


Misdirection

by angelsong87



Series: Love, pain, and x files [4]
Category: The X-Files
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-19
Updated: 2016-07-19
Packaged: 2018-07-25 10:18:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 26,346
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7528903
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/angelsong87/pseuds/angelsong87
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Our agent's head out on another wacky adventure, this time to California to investigate a headless magician. will love blossom in the sunshine? or will confusion pull them apart?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

April 6, 2000, 1:03 PM

“Come on Mulder, it’s not even a case.” Said Scully dropping the hazy photo’s that depicted the so-called Yeti of Jasper in Canada onto the desk. “It’s a blurry photo someone took to drum up business.”

Mulder looked up from the report he had been reading. He was sitting at his desk, Scully sat across from him wearing a frustrated expression. “Yeah, but have you ever gone skiing in Canada Scully?” He asked seriously.

She stared back at him, making it clear his joke was not funny. His face broke into that goofy half smile that she loved seeing and she couldn’t help but smile back at him. “We are not spending company money to go on vacation.” She said.

She could understand his boredom, they hadn’t had a case in weeks. Unless you count the unsubstantiated vampire attacks on the cattle of Louisiana. Which had turned out to be a creative farmer trying to thin the herd of his competitors. Scully had spent a whole weekend slogging through mud and cow pies on that one. Her suit was still at the dry cleaners as they tried to get the dirt out of it, that had been two weeks ago.

Since then work had been dull. They had arrested the farmer for wilful damage to property, so at least they weren’t copping any flak from Skinner and the other heads for misuse of funds. “You’re no fun, besides you would look cute in a snow bunny’s outfit.” He flirted.

“Mulder.” She admonished, going slightly pink. She looked around the office pointing out with her eyes that this was not the place for that kind of talk.

Mulder paled, he had forgotten himself for a moment. They had been spending so much time together outside of work lately that he had felt like he was at home flirting over breakfast. Charlie had some big divorce case at the moment, lots of money, some of it hidden. Which meant he had been in the office until very late going over transaction histories and depositions trying to sort out what his client was entitled to. Scully had been visiting him after work for dinner at least four times a week, although she always went home before midnight.

Thankfully just then the phone rang.

“Mulder.” He said picking it up.

Scully watched as his eyes lit up. We must have a case she thought, reaching over and putting the paperwork and photos from the Yeti sighting back in the folder. She got up and moved over to the filing cabinet.

“Great, can you send me the report?” Asked Mulder.

He hung up and turned to face her. “Fancy a trip to Hollywood?”

“What, they had Yeti reports there too?” She joked.

He smiled, he loved how much more relaxed she was now. It was like the weight of all of those walls was disappearing with every layer he broke through. “No, but it does sound interesting.”

She put the file back in the cabinet. “What’s it about?” she asked leaning against the closing draw.

“If I told you that it would spoil the surprise.” He said jumping out of his chair and heading for the door. “You’d better go home and pack I’ll pick you up in an hour.” He called on his way out.

She sighed, it was so typical of him to run out only telling half the story. Hollywood, she thought. It could be anything. She headed for the door, grabbing her coat on the way out. She didn’t bother with the lights, Mulder would be back to grab his things before he left.

She was stopped at the metal detectors by the guard. “Agent Scully, leaving already?” He asked.

“Yeah, caught a case.” She replied smiling.

“Oh, where are you off to this time? More cow pies?”

She laughed. “Thankfully no, California. Hopefully, it will be full of sunshine and free of mud.”

The Guard nodded. “Half your luck, you two have fun.”

“Thanks, Frank, say Hi to Amy and Debbie for me.” She said heading for her car.

“Will do!” The Guard called in response.

****

Thankfully traffic was light and Scully made it home in record time. She walked into her apartment tossing her keys on the side table and her coat on the couch. She looked around her living room, the place looked so much warmer since Charlie had moved his things in. He had added touches to everything, from the rug on the floor which covered the stain of bad memories to the potted plants she now had on the table behind the couch.

She walked over to the hall closet where she kept her suitcases and was slightly annoyed to find that Charlie had moved them up onto the shelf to make room for some of his things. If she wasn’t so vertically challenged it wouldn’t be a problem, but as it was, she would have to get up on her toes to reach them. She contemplated grabbing a chair from the dining room, before deciding she couldn’t take the indignity, the shelf wasn’t that high. She reached her hand up as high as it would go, and after pointing her toes, she was able to reach the handle. She gave it a tug and to her surprise, the whole lot came crashing down on top of her. She fell into a heap on the floor, knocking the wind out of herself as she went.

Charlie came bursting out of his room with a baseball bat held above his head. He looked down to see his tiny sister lying on the floor with a suitcase on her chest and a panicked look on her face. It took him no time at all to work out what must have happened, and then he laughed. He laughed so hard that he dropped the bat and doubled over.

Scully went bright red and could feel the rage building inside. She pushed the suitcase off and stood up. “What’s so funny?” She asked.

Charlie looked at Scully’s face, he could see how mad she was, but that only made it funnier. He burst into new roars of laughter.

“It’s not funny, this wouldn’t have happened if you hadn’t moved them in the first place! What are you even doing here? Shouldn’t you be at work?” She shouted at him.

“I have a late meeting.” He said between fits. “So I thought I would take the opportunity to catch up on some sleep. I was just about to get ready when I heard you.”

Scully shook her head at him, she felt angry and embarrassed. She grabbed one of the cases and stormed into her room, slamming the door behind her. She could still hear his laughter echoing down the hallway.

She scowled and started throwing her things into the case. She knew she would regret not folding her things later when they came out all creased, but right now she couldn’t care less. She grabbed out a light coat, hoping it wouldn’t be too cool there. It was spring after all, but the way they travel, you have to be prepared for anything.

She walked into the bathroom, gathered her toiletries, and quickly left. She still didn’t like that room. Charlie had no such problem, and in fact, he loved that she had shortened her bathroom time down. He could now take a twenty-minute shower and know that there would still be hot water.

She threw the toiletries bag into the suitcase remembering to grab her makeup bag from the dresser, she had been doing her makeup in the mirror in her bedroom since the attack. After she finished packing her case she sat down on the bed and sighed. She was not looking forward to the hotel room stay that would accompany this trip. The nightmare that had plagued her since the attack had only gotten worse, she had woken Charlie every night she had been home with her screams and cries. So far, Mulder hadn’t heard her. She was lucky with their last case that the small motel that they had stayed in didn’t have two adjoining rooms. She had ended up on one end of the strip of rooms, Mulder on the other.

She should probably go and apologise to Charlie, he had been working so hard lately, coming home in the early hours of the morning to pass out in his room, only to be awoken by her nonsense. She got up from the bed and walked over to his door. He opened it moments after her knock. He was half dressed for work, dress shirt unbuttoned and only one cuff link on. “Hey Dane, what’s up?” He asked moving back to his dresser to look for the other link.

“I wanted to apologise for shouting at you earlier, it wasn’t fair. You have every right to move things around here, you live here too.” She said looking down.

“Actually about that, I’ve been looking at some real estate lately.”

Scully looked up horrified, she wasn’t ready for him to leave. She opened her mouth to argue but he cut her off.

“Don’t panic, I’m not going yet. I’m just seeing what my options are. The money from Jason just landed in my account the other day and it would make a nice deposit for a house.” He reassured.

“Charlie, I’m sorry. I know you haven’t been getting much sleep lately and that’s my fault. But I just got you back, I don’t want to lose you.” How was she supposed to get used to living on her own again? He hadn’t been here for long, but she couldn’t imagine not having him around every day to tease her about her clothes and watch crappy old movies with.

“Dana, you haven’t done anything wrong. Honestly, I stayed for so long because of you. But I need to find out if I can live on my own. I never have, I went straight from college to living with Jase. I’m thirty-three years old and I’ve never been alone. Not to mention I know you haven’t returned any of mom’s calls since I moved here.”

She wanted to argue with him, but he was right. She had been avoiding their mother ever since he got here. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to see her mom, she just felt like whatever move she made, she was betraying someone. She had promised Charlie that she wouldn’t tell Mom that he was here, but she couldn’t look into her mother’s eyes and lie to her.

“She’s your mother Dana, you need to talk to her. She loves you.”

Scully looked into her brother's eyes. It amazed her that despite everything that had gone on between the two of them, he still wanted Scully to keep her relationship with their Mom. “I know, I’ll call her when we get back from this case.”

“And I promise I won’t move out without telling you.” Joked Charlie.

There was a knock on the front door. “That’s not funny.” Said Scully before walking over to let Mulder in.

“You ready?” He asked as he stepped into the living room.

“Yeah, I just got to grab my case.” She replied walking off the bedroom to collect her things.

“Hey Charlie, how’s things?” Asked Mulder as the taller Scully sibling walked out of his room.

“Good man, how are you?” Replied Charlie.

Mulder nodded. “Good.” They stood there awkwardly for a moment until Scully came out of her room.

“Ready.” She said and walked to the door. She stopped on the way to give her brother a hug. “See you when I get back.”

“Later squirt.” He replied.

They were almost out the door when Charlie called out for Mulder. He turned to Scully. “Meet you at the car.” He said handing her the keys before walking back to the doorway that Charlie was standing in. “What’s up?” He asked the man.

Charlie waited until Scully had turned the corner before speaking. “Listen, Dana won’t want me to tell you this. But I thought you should know, she’s been having terrible night terrors since her attack. I don’t want you to worry if she starts screaming in her sleep. Just wake her up and remind her where she is, she’ll calm down and go back to sleep. Half the time she doesn’t even remember that I woke her.”

Mulder nodded, he would have to keep a closer eye on her. He had no idea that it was still affecting her. “Thanks, man.” He said holding out his hand for Charlie to shake it. “I will take care of her.”

“I know you will.” Replied the tall redhead.


	2. Chapter 2

 

 

April 6, 2000, 2:15 PM

As Mulder walked down the car he met Scully leaning against the driver side door. “What was that about?” she asked casually.

“Oh, nothing he just wanted to ask me if I was bringing my man purse on the trip.” He lied.

“Uh huh.” Replied Scully unconvinced.

“Well we’d better go or we’ll miss the flight.”

She stepped away from the door and around to the passenger side, handing him the keys as he sat down. “So what’s this case about?”

Mulder started the car and pulled away from the curb. “A magician with a severed head.”

“Neat trick.” She replied wondering why they were handling what sounded like a routine murder.

“Ah but this one has a literal twist.” Said Mulder smirking at his joke.

“Oh, and how’s that?”

“Before our magicians head disconnected, he managed to turn it all the way around 360 degrees.”

Scully shot him a sarcastic look. “That’s not possible, it was probably a trick.”

“Not according to the witnesses.” He replied.

“He was a magician, Mulder. The audience would have seen what he wanted them to see.” She retorted.

“Well, we shall see.” Said Mulder ponderously.

“Can I see the case report?” she asked.

“It’s in the trunk.” Replied Mulder apologetically.

Of course, it is, thought Scully. She felt stressed about Charlie. “So, Charlie might be moving out.” She said conversationally.

“That’s good.” Replied Mulder. “He needs to get out and live his life more.”

“Don’t you think it’s a little soon?” she asked.

“Not really, I mean, he moved in what? End of January? He always said it was only temporary, and as I recall you were looking forward to him getting his own place.”

“Yeah but it’s only been two months, and he and Jason were together for eleven years. I’m worried about him going off on his own.” She complained

Mulder glanced over at her. “He’s a grown man Scully, I’m sure he wouldn’t make this decision until he was ready, and besides, he could always come home if things didn’t work out.”

She sighed, he was right. Charlie was old enough to make his own choices, even if she didn’t agree with them. Besides, she really only wanted him to stay because she didn’t want to be alone.

The airport was close to Scully’s house so it didn’t take them long to get there. They had about fifteen minutes before the next flight out to L.A so they hurried to check in their luggage and get to the gate. Twenty minutes after they arrived at the airport they were in flight. Scully had the case file open on her lap, the headless magician had apparently performed just that morning at the Santa Monica Pier before somehow managing to have his head cut off in the space of five minutes. She could see from the photos of the scene that there was very little if any blood, and she did admit the case was strange. She was excited, it felt good to be working on a real X File again.

Mulder was busy fiddling with his diskman, he had just bought a new album and was flipping through his favourite tracks. Scully looked up with interest closing the case file. “What are you listening to?”

Mulder removed his headphones and handed them to her. “Fleetwood Mac.” He said.

Scully listened to the music coming out of the small speakers. “Rumours?” She asked.

“It’s their greatest album, did you know they weren’t even talking to each other when they wrote that. They only talked about the music, that’s an artist.”

Scully nodded, she agreed. It was their best work. She sighed as the stewardess walked around offering coffee and soda to the passengers, it was going to be a long flight.

****

After they had arrived in LAX and collected their luggage, they headed over to pick up a rental car. Mulder looked at the choices and smiled. It was only a fifty dollar excess to rent a convertible for their stay, he pointed to the picture. “What do you say, Scully? Want to cruise around town with the top down?”

She looked at the convertible he was pointing to and rolled her eyes. All she could picture was her hair looking like a birds nest and bugs in her teeth. “Mulder, really? Just get the sedan.”

He looked over to her, judging whether or not it was worth arguing about it. Probably not, he decided and started the paperwork for the generic sedan.

He had decided to take the scenic route to the Pier driving past Venice beach. He and Scully stared out the window at the beach goers. It was early afternoon, and the beach was full of tourists and surfers. Everybody looked so happy, Mulder turned to Scully. “If you want, when we finish at the pier we can come back her for dinner.” He said casually.

Scully smiled back at him. “That sounds nice.”

They drove on towards their destination. Mulder was only somewhat surprised to find that the majority of the pier was still open to the public. They drove slowly through the masses of people towards the back of the pier where their crime scene lay. He pulled up near a police car and they got out.

There were two small groups of officer milling around on either side of the scene. Scully looked up at Mulder. “Divide and conquer?” she asked.

He nodded and headed to the officers on the right while Scully walked around the van to talk to the others.

“Afternoon.” Said Mulder flashing his badge at the officers. “Special Agent Fox Mulder with the F.B.I, who was the first on the scene?”

A tall dark man in uniform put his hand up. “I was sir.”

Mulder nodded at the man. “Can you tell me what happened?”

“Well, it’s just as you see, the van was parked right there. The event manager left the deceased in the van to go and collect his money. When he came back a few minutes later, he found him sitting there with his head cut off.”

“And he’s sure he was only gone a few minutes?” he asked.

“Yes, sir.” Replied the officer.

Mulder looked around. “Were there any other witnesses?”

“It’s a pretty secluded part of the pier, and it was still early in the day. We did, however, get this.” Said the officer reaching into the police car to pull out a video camera.

Mulder took the camera and hit the playback button. It was the magician doing his act. He shrugged at the officer, wondering why the officer looked so amazed. The magician was doing some basic cup and balls tricks, he also sounded like Mulders seventh grade history teacher, he noted with a chuckle.

“Just wait, keep watching.” Said the officer.

Mulder watched as the magician continued to underwhelm his audience. At least, the heckler at the front was underwhelmed. But then something amazing happened, the magician turned his head three hundred and sixty degrees around. He blinked at the tape. He had read it in the report, but seeing it, well, that was something else. “This isn’t doctored?”

“No sir, everybody who was at the show saw it.”

Mulder handed back the camera and grabbed out a large photo of the scene. It was the photo he had been sent that morning and he wanted to make sure that, other than removing the body, nothing had been touched yet.

He stepped back, outside of the police tape and held the photo up. Nothing had changed really, well apart from the body in the van and the head on the boardwalk. He walked back in to take a closer look at the driver side of the van. Scully saw him walk over and headed to the passenger side.

“Neat trick, huh?” Asked Mulder, recalling Scully’s comment from earlier.

“I can think of an even neater one.” She replied, her mind wandering towards the idea of the two of them strolling hand in hand down Venice Beach. She smiled at the thought and put her mind back on the task at hand. “How you convinced me to drop everything and get on the first plane to Los Angeles.”

“Come on Scully, this isn’t intriguing enough for you? A magician turn’s his head completely around 360 degrees, to the delight of young and old alike. After which it plops unceremoniously onto the pier.” He held up the picture he had been looking at. “See the picture?” he said pointing to the severed head lying on the ground.

“Yeah, I saw the picture, and as for this Amazing Maleeni turning his head all the way round, like you said Mulder, neat trick.” Replied Scully flatly.

“But?” He pressed.

“But.” She replied walking around the front of the van to stand next to him. “I’d guess this event was completely removed from the subsequent murder.”

“You think this was a murder?” asked Mulder. Maybe it was a magic trick gone wrong. He had watched the tape and heard what Maleeni had said. No one had ever survived this trick.

Scully looked at him in confusion. “Don’t you?” He gave a slight half shrug. “Mulder, his head was cut off.” She exclaimed.

“Ah but, observe the nearly complete absence of blood.” He replied pointing out the unmarked car seat. “Observe the paucity of fingerprints, as evidenced by the LAPD’s liberal use of lycopodium powder.” He pointed out the large splotches of the dark inky powder that coated the door handle and surrounding area. He was smirking now, he felt like a magician himself, directing his audience to the riddle that only he was able to unravel.

“Why are you talking like Tony Randall?” She asked.

He ignored her glib remark and continued. “Know that the Amazing Maleeni was alive one moment and expired the next.” Scully was looking at him like he was crazy. “Know also that no one saw his fleeing attacker, nor heard the dying man’s cries.” He finished feeling proud of his speech.

“Mulder, I admit that I don’t know how it happened, but I still say it was a murder.”

He looked away disappointed, he was hoping his stirring speech would have swayed her to the possibility of another option. I guess I’ll have to fight for this, he thought.

Scully watched as his face turned away in disappointment. Well, what does he expect? She thought, people don’t go around cutting their own heads off, what other explanation could there be? “So what’s your theory?”

“A magic trick gone horribly wrong.” He said and watched her raise her eyebrows. “One that claims the lives of all who attempt it.” She was looking at him like he was crazy, he needed proof. “Can I see that camcorder again?” He called out to the officer. He walked over and took it as the officer handed it to him. “Thank you.” Scully still stood by the van so he walked back turning on the camera as he went. “A tourist videotaped Maleeni’s performance. Look at this” he said holding up the view window for Scully to see.

Scully watched as the image sprang to live. It was the dead magician, he was standing on stage. He looked to have just finished a trick. “That ain’t old school, that decrepit!” Shouted a man in the audience. “Show me something!”

“Who’s the heckler?” Asked Scully.

“I don’t know.” Replied Mulder. He fast forwarded the tape and then hit play, Scully watched in wonder as the magician did indeed turn his head completely around. “Neat trick, huh?”

She scoffed. “Hang on a second, let me see this.” She said taking the camcorder off him. She watched as the heckler turned and walked out of the shot throwing his soda cup in the bin on the way. “That heckler was pretty hard to impress, wouldn’t you say?” she showed the footage to Mulder. “Look, and then he just takes off in a huff.”

“What, you think he’s a murderer?” He asked jokingly.

“Well, it’s worth checking out, don’t you think?”

“Hmm, well that would be a trick in itself. You never see his face.” He said confused.

“Ah, but observe.” She said rewinding the tape to watch the heckler walk off again. “His discarded soda cup. The hand may be quicker than the eye, but it still leaves fingerprints.”

“Ah, provided they haven’t dumped the trash.” Teased Mulder.

Scully looked him up and down. “Skeptic.” She said and turned to go find the trash can in question.

Mulder smiled and followed behind her. Perhaps it was the sunshine, or just the thrill of being on a case again, either way, she seemed happier. He caught up to her as she was pulling on a pair of rubber gloves, the half empty trash can stood three feet away. “Looks like we’re in luck.” She commented, noting that the can hadn’t been emptied.

“Yeah, but you still have to find the right cup.” He replied.

She rolled her eyes and walked over to the can, the soda cup in question was right on top, next to a half-eaten hotdog and what looked like the gloopy remains of an ice cream. She gingerly removed the cup, trying not to touch it too much, partially because she didn’t want to compromise the fingerprints, and also because it was gross. She smiled to herself, dead bodies didn’t bother her at all, but the thought of touching a greasy mustard covered cup turned her stomach. It was a strange world.

She held it out to Mulder as he grabbed out an evidence bag to put it in. Then they walked back to the officer he had been talking to earlier. “Can we get this dusted for prints and run it through IAFIS as soon as possible?”

“Yes, sir.” Replied the officer.

“Great, here’s my card let me know when they get back to you.” He said handing the man his business card.

He and Scully walked back to their rental car and got in. “So, what now?” he asked her.

“I’ll call the morgue and see if we can get a look at this magician, do you want to find us a hotel on the way?”

“Alright.” He replied and took off.

She pulled out her cell phone and a scrap of paper with the details of the morgue. After dialling in the number she patiently waited for the call to be answered.

“Los Angeles County Morgue, Sarah speaking.”

“Ah yes, Agent Scully with the FBI, you had a body come in this morning from the Santa Monica Pier, I was wondering if I could come in and get a look at it.”

“Just a minute.” Came the reply. Scully heard the sounds of shuffling papers and someone coughed in the background. “Agent Scully? Yes, that would be a Mr. Pinchbeck correct?”

“Yes, when can we come in and do the autopsy?”

The woman sighed. “It might be a while I’m afraid, there was a bad accident up on the highway and the medical examiner is tied up with that at the moment.”

“Actually, I’m a medical doctor, if you can provide me with a bay, I can perform the autopsy myself.” She replied.

“Yeah, see the thing is, we don’t have a bay right now. Can you come in tomorrow? This should be all done by then. I’m sorry Agent Scully, it’s going to be a long day for us.”

Scully let out a small sigh of frustration. “Okay, I’ll call back in the morning to organise a time to come in.”

“Thank you, Agent, we appreciate your patience.”

She hit the end call button and turned to Mulder. “Well, we’re free for the night, the morgue is backed up at the moment and they can’t fit us in until the morning.”

Mulder had been tapping out a rhythm on the steering wheel, he turned to look at her. “Well alright then, let’s check in and grab some food, I’m starving.”


	3. Chapter 3

 

 

April 6, 2000, 4:15 PM

They checked into their standard looking motel 6. Much to Scully’s disappointment they not only had rooms right next to each other, they were adjoining. Oh well, at least the door was locked, she thought as she dropped her suitcase onto the bed. She could hear Mulder moving about next door loudly, she heard a banging noise followed by. “Ah fuck.” And laughed.

“You alright in there?” She called out.

“Yeah, I tripped over the rug.” He shouted back to her, he could hear her snickering. “I’m going to take a shower.”

“Okay.” She replied, still smiling. She opened up her case and her good mood evaporated. She had forgotten that her clothes had been stuffed inside haphazardly. She shook them out as she pulled them from the case, they were going to need and iron. The shower went on next door and she could hear it clearly, it was going to be a long night, she thought. She pulled out a pair of jeans and a nice button up top that Charlie had bought her and laid them out on the bed. The rest of the clothes she pulled out and hung up in the bathroom, hoping the steam would pull out some of the creases.

She was wondering if she still had time for a shower when she heard the water turn off in her partner's room, guess not, she thought with a sigh. Instead, she went and pulled on the clothes she had laid out and checked her reflection in the mirror. She looked tired, her eyes were a bit puffy. But it was hardly noticeable, so she ran her fingers through her hair and went to pick up her bag. She had just walked out the door when Mulder met her. “Hey, I was just coming to get you. Ready to go?” He asked.

She turned to look at him, he was wearing light washed jeans and a white tee. How does he make that look so sexy? She wondered. He had a goofy half smile on his face and his eyes lit up when she smiled. “Yeah, where are we going?”

“I thought we could just go for a drive and see what leaps out at us.” He replied. He looked her up and down, she was wearing dark jeans that were tight in all the right places, and a light blue button down top that brought out the colour of her eyes. She looked a little tired but based on what Charlie had said that was to be expected.

They got in the car and drove down towards the beach, she stared out the window at the water enjoying the smell and sound of the waves. He watched as the afternoon sun glistened in her hair, making the red locks look like they were on fire. He couldn’t take away the dreams or the pain of what she had suffered because of him. But he could make her happy, even if only for a while.

He found a park near the beach and they got out. They walked together, almost close enough to touch but not quite. He wanted to reach out and hold her hand, but he was worried about her rejection. Well, there’s only one way to find out, he thought to himself and loosely clasped his hand in hers.

She glanced at him for a moment and then readjusted her grip, entwining their fingers. His hand felt nice in hers and besides, they were in California, dressed like normal people, who would know? They walked together along the stone path by the shore, enjoying each other’s company in silence. Eventually, they came to a small hole in the wall restaurant. It looked dingy from the outside, there were no windows or signs, no way of knowing what it was like. But as they went inside they were transported to a beautiful Moroccan palace, with heavy fabrics draped on the walls and ceilings. There were pillows everywhere and instead of dining tables people sat on cushions around coffee tables and there was a strong smell of spicy incense in the air.

A small man in an oversized white shirt that went down to his calves came up to them. “Hello, table for two?” He asked them.

They looked at each other and shrugged. “Sure.” Replied Scully.

The man took them over to a secluded table in the back, sheer fabric separated them from the rest of the diners. They sat awkwardly on the cushions, Mulder felt uncomfortable being so close to the ground with the waiter looming over them. He looked over to Scully for reassurance and she smiled back at him. “Can I interest you in some drinks? I recommend the sangria.” Said the waiter.

We probably shouldn’t drink, we are on a case, after all, thought Scully. She looked to Mulder to see what he though, and watched as he gave her a tiny shrug. “Oh, one won’t hurt. Yes please.” She said.

The waiter nodded and left them to peruse the menus. “So.” Said Mulder awkwardly. “This is some place, huh.”

Scully looked around, it was quiet and intimate here, and it had an exotic feeling. “I like it.” She replied.

They checked out the menu trying to discern what the food was. “What’s Kefta Tagine?” Asked Mulder trying to sound out the words.

“I have no idea.” Replied Scully with a laugh. “Let’s try it and find out.”

The waiter came back with a large pitcher and two glasses. “Are you ready to order?” he asked as he placed the glasses down and poured the heavy red liquid in them.

“We’ll have the Kefta Tagine.” He replied.

“Very good.” Said the waiter and left.

Scully picked up the glass of sangria. “Cheers.” She said in a mock toast.

Mulder clinked his glass against hers and took a sip of the red liquid, it was rich in flavour, with a strong cinnamon taste. He liked the way the citrus made his tongue tingle. “This is good.” He said.

Scully agreed, taking a long sip. They engaged in awkward small talk about current events and work while they waited for their food, every minute in this small intimate restaurant felt more and more like a date. Thankfully, because it was so early, their food arrived quickly.

Mulder let out a breath of relief when he saw what looked like meatballs and eggs in sauce, he served them out a bowl each. “Alright, let’s try this.” He said cautiously.

He shouldn’t have worried, dinner was wonderful. As they both settled into the soft cushions after enjoying the meal Scully thought about the strangeness of the case that they were on. It was no stranger than any other case she supposed, but that in itself made the whole thing so ridiculous.

Mulder was pouring them both another glass of the crimson liquid, he was going to have to order another soon when he heard a soft bubble of laughter come out of his partner's mouth. “What’s so funny?” he asked.

She took a sip of the sangria, this is going straight to my head, she thought. “Nothing, I was just thinking about the case.”

“And that’s funny?” he asked, a bemused expression crossing his face.

“Come on Mulder, a man’s head spun completely around and fell off like the screw top of a beer bottle. Don’t you think that’s just absurd?” She said laughing.

He couldn’t help but smile at her, that laugh was infectious. “I suppose so, what’s your point.”

“Just that, we lead very strange lives. If I knew what my life would be like now ten years ago, I never would have believed it.”

He stopped smiling if she knew what her live would have been like she would never have chosen it. He took a long gulp of his drink, almost emptying the cup. Thankfully he was saved from having to answer her, by the waiter coming to clear the table.

“Will there be anything else sir? Desert? More drinks?”

Mulder looked over to Scully to see if he should order another pitcher, but he could see her face starting to get a little red from the alcohol and knew they should probably stop. After all, they were here on a case. “Just the check please.” The waiter nodded and headed off to write up the bill. “So it’s still early, what do you want to do now?” He asked her.

The heavy drink had definitely gone to her head, and she just wanted her bed. “To be honest, I would just like to go back to the hotel and sleep if we can.”

“Your wish is my command.” He joked and pulled himself up off the floor. He reached down to help her stand and she laughed when he pulled her into his arms.

Hand in hand they walked over to the counter to pay for their meal, Scully was surprised to see Mulder pull out his personal credit card to pay, rather than the company one. She caught his eye and gave him a look of curiosity. He shrugged and gave her a smile.

To Scully the drive back to the hotel seemed to take forever, and no time at all. She was thinking about Mulder paying for the meal. Was that our first date? She wondered it seemed so strange to her how much significance could be put on a single act. She turned her face to study him, he was watching the road with extra care, probably because he’d had a few drinks. But at least he didn’t seem to mind her staring at him. His eyes had new smile lines she noticed, and wondered if that was because of her. He always had those worry lines on his forehead, even when he was completely relaxed. Her eyes trained in on his lips, they were so full, fuller than hers, and soft. She stifled an urge to reach out and brush her fingers over them. She sighed and turned her face back towards the road just as he reached out and took her hand in his.

He smiled as she gave his hand a reassuring squeeze. Tonight had been their first real date, in public, like a real couple. He knew it was a date from the second she had laced her fingers through his on the beach. Sometimes he truly wondered how he had gotten lucky enough to have her in his life.

After they pulled up at the hotel he walked her to the door, still holding hands. They stood facing each other and he brought his hand up to brush a strand of hair that had blown into her face back into the rest of her locks. “Well, good night.”

He turned to head back to his room next door but she pulled on his arm, forcing him to turn back and look at her. “Stay with me tonight?” She asked shyly.

Wordlessly he nodded and she unlocked the door for them to walk through together.


	4. Chapter 4

 

April 7, 2000, 7:00AM

Scully woke to the feeling of a warm body pressed into her back and blinked sleepily. She checked the alarm clock on the nightstand, it was 7AM. She had managed to sleep through the whole night without the nightmare, for the first time in almost a month she actually felt well rested.

She stretched out and felt strong arms circle around her waist. “Morning.” Said Mulder huskily in her ear. He couldn’t remember the last time they had woken up together but it somehow felt like coming home again, like right here was where he belonged.

Then came the sharp trill of Mulder’s cell phone which had been left in his discarded pants pocket. He rolled over and reached down to pick it up. Scully felt the sudden cold on her back as a reminder of his presence there moments before.

“Mulder.” He said into the phone.

“Hi there Agent Mulder, it officer Brinkley from LAPD we got a match on those fingerprints you wanted. You know, the ones from the cup.”

“You’re kidding, hold on let me get a pen.” He said throwing back the covers and crossing the room to the small desk. “Okay, what do you have?”

“It’s a man by the name of William LaBonge, goes by Billy. He did a nickel down in Metro eight years ago for pickpocketing, but he’s kept his nose clean since then.”

“Do you have a location for him?” He asked while writing the name down.

“Yeah, he lives out of a crappy apartment up in North Hollywood. But you’d be better off finding him at work, that’s at the Tea Room on Victory Boulevard. According to his parole officer, that’s where Billy spends most of his time.”

“Thanks.” Replied Mulder hanging up the phone. He turned to look over to his partner, who had just sat up in the bed and was busy rubbing the sleep from her eyes. “Hey Scully, want to go see a magic show?”

“What I want is a coffee and a shower.” She replied smiling.

“Okay, you shower and I’ll bring the coffee.” He said pulling on his pants and gathering his things.

She laughed as he ducked out of the room still holding his shirt and shoes and hopped out of the bed, heading for the shower. She let the hot water roll off the back of her neck as she stood in the shower, it felt strange to her, being so relaxed. She wondered if she had managed to forgo the nightmare because Mulder stayed with her, or if it was simply the sangria. She hoped it was the sangria, it was bad enough that he visited her every night in her dreams, both good and bad. She didn’t want him to be that responsible for her happiness. Because if he was, it would hurt that much more when he swept her aside.

None of his priorities had changed, even now, he was working to find his sister. He had no time for anything else, not really. She could stand there under the water all day, dreaming about the two of them settling down and raising a family together. But it would never happen. He would always be searching for her, and Scully would always come second. It was becoming harder and harder to rationalise her feelings away. Every day she edged closer and closer to that precipice and she knew one day she would need to make the choice, leap to her death, or run in the opposite direction.

She heard the room door open and Mulder call out. “Scully? I’m going to shower, I left your coffee on the table.”

“Thank you!” she called back and heard the door close as he left. She turned off the water and grabbed the towel.

After drying off she chose a dark blue shirt and a black pencil skirt to wear. Most of the creases had come out of the shirt and the rest she could cover with a blazer.

Twenty minutes later she was headed out the door coffee in hand. She met Mulder outside. “So where are we going for this magic show?”

“North Hollywood, the Tea Room. Ever heard of it?” he asked. She shook her head. “Well, it’s about a half hour from here, are you ready?”

They got in the car and headed for the Tea Room. They almost drove past it when they got there, it was an old dilapidated building next to a discount mini mart. But sure enough, on the faux theatre awning said the words SAT. /SUN BILLY LABONGE. Mulder pulled up out front and they headed inside.

The man they were looking for was standing onstage with his back towards them. He looked to be practising his act for that coming weekend. They walked up to him. “Mr LaBonge?” Asked Scully. “We’re agents Mulder and Scully from the FBI.” She and Mulder pulled out their badges to show him but he didn’t seem all that interested. He was fiddling with a packet of playing cards, laying them out and then shuffling them. “Were you at the Santa Monica Pier yesterday morning?” She asked him.

Billy looked thoughtful for a moment. “Yeah.” He answered, going back to fiddle with his cards.

“You attended a magic show. The Amazing Maleeni.” Said Mulder, he hated guys like LaBonge, the ones who couldn’t even have the respect to look at people when they were talking to you.

“Yeah, he sucks. Why?”

“He’s dead.” Replied Scully. “Under extremely suspicious circumstances.”

Billy still hadn’t stopped playing with his cards. “He still sucks.” Was the only answer they got. “How’d you find me?”

“Your fingerprints. You have a criminal record.” She answered hoping to get a rise out of the young man.

“A conviction for pickpocketing.” Added Mulder.

It looked like they had struck a nerve, Billy had stopped fiddling with the cards to stare at them. “Man that was performance art. And besides, it's ancient history. What are you saying? You think I killed him?”

“Well, you’re on video heckling the deceased.” She didn’t really think he killed him based on that, but it was one way to get him talking.

“What did you have against Mr Maleeni?” Asked Mulder.

Billy scoffed and started playing with some coins. “First of all, his name’s not Maleeni. That’s the name of a real magician, a guy at the turn of the century, Max Malini. Ever hear of him?”

They shook their heads. “No.” Said Scully.

“That’s too bad. You should have. Anyway, he steals his name, spells it a little differently, and does some tired crap that wouldn’t cut it at a kid’s birthday party.” Spat LaBonge.

“What about the trick where he turns his head completely around?” Asked Mulder, drawing a circle with his finger.

“Check it out.” Said Billy, rolling down the sleeve of his right arm. He knelt on the ground and placed his hand flat on the floor pointed towards himself. He then proceeded to very slowly turn his hand around. They could hear the cracks and clicks of LaBonge’s arm as his elbow dislocated to give him more room to turn. Once he had managed to turn his hand around a full 360 degrees he lifted up his arm and shook it back into place. “No problem.” Scully turned to look at Mulder to see if he had been impressed by the magicians trick. “Did you like that?” Asked Billy.

“Yeah.” She said turning back to LaBonge.

He was enjoying his captivated audience. “Watch.” He said going back to the coins. He held one coin in his right hand running it over the backs of his knuckles. “Coin in the hand.” He said transferring it to his left hand. “Blows away.” He said opening his left hand to show them the coin was gone. They didn’t look impressed. “Maybe it’s a little hard for you to see.” He picked up another coin and ran his hand over it. “Let me make that bigger for you.” Now the coin was the size of a tea saucer.

“Those are great, but I don’t see how they’re any different or better than the ones Maleeni did.” Said Mulder flatly.

“Mozart and Salieri. They sound pretty much the same to a layman. But they ain’t. You know what I’m saying?” The Agents just stared at the man. “It’s about originality.” Said LaBonge, he was moving coins from one side of the table to the other as he spoke. “Style. And more than anything else, soul. Because that’s what separates the great ones, from the hacks. We can’t do this halfway. We’re dealing with powerful forces at work here. Energies far beyond our mere mortal understanding.” He spoke to them like he was performing a show, with unnecessary flourishes and large gestures.

“Enough to make a magician lose his head?” Asked Mulder, pulling LaBonge back to the task at hand.

“Could be. That and I hear Maleeni racked up some pretty big gambling debts. Who knows who he might have pissed off?”

Finally, LaBonge had given them something useful. Maleeni had debts, he wouldn’t be the first guy to be made an example of what happens when you don’t pay what you owe. “Well, thank you Mr LaBonge. We’ll, uh, be in touch.” Said Scully though she couldn’t think of why they would need to see this magician again.

“Please do.” Replied Billy, as they started to walk away. “Oh and agents.” He called back, stopping them. He uncrossed his hands and showed them what he was holding. It was their FBI badges, he opened them to prove they were real. Both Mulder and Scully reached into their coat pockets to confirm that he had indeed taken them, before reaching out and grabbing them back off the thieving magician.

They walked away, Mulder trailing behind. He caught up and said into her ear. “Mozart and Salieri, which ones which?”

“Mulder, I think that professional jealousy is as good a motive for murder as any.”

“If it was a murder. I’m not convinced.” He replied.

She checked her watch, it was after nine. “If I can get Mr Maleeni into an autopsy bay, hopefully, we can put this issue to rest as soon as possible.”

As they walked outside she pulled her phone out of her pocket and dialled the number for the county morgue.

“L.A County Morgue, Sarah speaking.”

“Oh yes, Sarah, its Agent Scully from-“

“The FBI, yes I remember. We have a bay free for you now but the coroner won’t be available till after lunch.”

“That’s fine, I’m a medical doctor. I can perform the autopsy myself. I’ll head down now.” Said Scully.

“Okay, sure. We’ll get him ready and in the bay for you.”

“Thanks.” After she hung up, Scully turned to Mulder. “They’re getting him prepped now.”

They had stopped next to the rental car and Mulder stood thinking. “Okay, you go do the autopsy and I will see what I can track down about Maleeni’s gambling debts. Did you want to go for lunch after?”

“Sure, will you drop me off?”


	5. Chapter 5

 

April 7 2000 11:40 AM

Mulder slammed the car door behind himself. To say he was frustrated was an understatement. He had just spent the last two hours going over every single financial record for the Amazing Maleeni, AKA Herman Pinchbeck he could get his hands on. There was nothing, not a trace, the man didn’t earn enough in a year to file taxes and most of his income was in untraceable cash. There were no transactions between him and his family members and nothing in his apartment to say where the debt was from. It was just another conundrum, this whole case was. He hoped Scully had fared better with the autopsy.

It didn’t take him long to find her, all he needed to do was ask the small brunette woman behind the counter and he was directed to room one. Scully didn’t look up from the body when he entered the room. She was leaning over the magician’s torso with a look of concentration on her face, he walked over to the side of the room to stay out of her way. “How’s it going?”

She sighed and moved up to the detached head and covered the body with a sheet. “Alright, I’m stumped.” She said taking off her gloves and glasses. “And I think I’m supposed to be.”

“What do you think?” he asked moving forward to stand next to her.

“Well, first of all, and sorry to disappoint you, but, uh, Mr Maleeni’s head didn’t just magically fall off. It was very carefully sawed. Very slow and exacting work, probably with a fine tooth meat saw. And check out this little detail.” She said running her finger along the base of the head. There was a sticky claggy substance along the edge. She pulled at it and it stretched out like rubber. “Spirit gum, Mulder. It held the head to the body, just barely of course.”

“So, he was murdered?” Asked Mulder. That at least would make sense, who glues a man’s head onto its body?

“Well no, as far as I can tell this man died from an advanced coronary disease.” She replied.

“Natural causes.” He confirmed.

“Yeah.”

He smiled. “So basically, he died of a heart attack, somebody crept up behind him, sawed his head off and then glued it back on, all in the space of thirty seconds.” He laughed at the ridiculousness of it. “Does that make sense to you?”

She was trying hard to keep the smile off her face. This was serious, she told herself. “No, which makes it even stranger still, because as far as I can tell, this body has been dead for over a month. I see signs of refrigeration.”

“And yet he performed yesterday. What a trooper.”

“Well, somebody performed yesterday.” She said.

Just then there was a knock at the door. Large brown eyes and messy brown hair poked through the door. “Agent Scully? The coroner is here now if you wanted him to take a look at the body.”

Scully turned towards the small woman. “Thanks Sarah but were done here, if the coroner wants to check my findings he can.”

The woman nodded and walked away leaving Mulder and Scully in the room alone. “So, lunch?” he asked.

She gathered up her things and they walked across the road to the 24 hour dinner she had spied on the way in. it was right on lunch time and the dinner was relatively busy. They saw an empty booth towards the back and quickly claimed the space.

They sat contemplating the case after the waitress had taken their order, Scully nursing her hot coffee. There wasn’t enough coffee in the world to make this case make sense, she thought. “So, where do we go from here?”

“Well, I’ve been thinking about our dead guy’s brother.” He replied.

“He has a brother?” Asked Scully.

“Yeah, a twin brother.”

“That’s interesting, does the brother do magic too?” She asked.

“I think we should find out.” Replied Mulder.

After lunch the duo set out to the local police station to pull up records on the Pinchbeck brothers. There wasn’t much to find. Albert Pinchbeck was an upstanding citizen, he didn’t even have any parking fines. “Well, this is a bust.” He said.

“I still think we should interview him, I mean if Mr Maleeni was impersonated yesterday, it would make sense the brother did it.” Said Scully.

“Yeah, but what I don’t get is why? Why go to the effort? What’s the motivation?”

“Well, there’s only one way to find out.” She said handing him the phone.

He dialled the number to the bank that Albert worked at and waited for an answer. “Cradock Marine Bank, how may I direct your enquiry?”

“Ah, yes I was hoping to speak to a Mr Albert Pinchbeck please.”

“Sorry, Albert’s not here right now can I take a message?”

Mulder frowned, “When will he be back?” He asked.

“Not until tomorrow, poor man. Sorry.”

He sighed. “It’s just, I’ve been trying to get a hold of him for a few days now, my wife even stopped in to see him yesterday morning and he was out then too.” He flicked a glance over to Scully as he said the word wife. But she was stoically ignoring him

“Yeah, it’s really unfortunate. But Albert is such a trooper, he has assured us that he will be back at work tomorrow.”

“So he was out yesterday? I just want to make sure my wife actually went in like she told me. She has a tendency to get distracted easily.” He was smiling now as he watched his partner try and hide her scowl. She knew he was making fun of her, but she wasn’t about to give in and let him see that he had gotten to her.

“Yes, all morning. Although I don’t remember anyone coming in to ask for him. Would you like me to schedule an appointment for tomorrow?”

“No, no that’s fine. We’ll come in once I get the little woman moving, thank you for your time.” Replied Mulder.

As soon as he hung up he felt a sharp jab in his ribs, he turned to look and saw that she had poked him hard with her finger. “What?” He asked laughing.

“You know what.” She replied shaking her head at him. She turned and started walking towards the car.

“I was just trying to establish if the brother had an alibi.” He said taking large strides to catch up to her. “He doesn’t by the way.”

“Well then, good.” Came the reply. She couldn’t work out why she was annoyed, was it the distracted joke? Or that he had implied they were married? She knew he had to say something other than, _hi I’m a cop and I’m looking for a suspect._ So why did it bother her so much? “So, we’re going to see him tomorrow?” She asked him, changing the subject.

“Yeah, bright and early in the morning.” It was bright outside so he reached into his pocket and pulled out his sunglasses to cut the glare. “So it looks like we have the afternoon off, what do you want to do?”

She shrugged, trying to think about what they should be doing. She could start writing up their expense report, or check in with the coroner to confirm her findings from the morning.

He could see the cogs ticking over in her brain and knew if he didn’t suggest something soon they would end up at the hotel doing paperwork. “Let’s do something fun.”

She glanced out the side of her narrowed eyes. “Fun Mulder, we’re on a case.”

“And we will still be on it tomorrow when we have new leads. Come on Scully, we’re in Hollywood! Don’t you want to go see the sights? I could take you to see Marlon Brando’s star, or we could go see that Chinese theatre. How bout I take your picture in front of the Hollywood sign?”

She wrinkled her nose, she didn’t want to be a tourist. “I don’t know Mulder, we really should get this paperwork started.” It wasn’t like him to shirk off a case for fun. Especially one as strange as this. She wondered what had come over him.

He sighed, he just wanted to do something to take her mind off everything. He didn’t think she had had the nightmare last night, or if she had, she hadn’t woken him up with it. “Alright Scully, let’s go back to the hotel.” He said and opened the door to the car.

They were both too distracted to talk during the drive back so the car was filled with an uncomfortable silence the whole trip. He felt so strange, in many ways, they were closer now than ever before. But it also felt like a huge distance had formed between them. They used to be able to communicate with each other by just looking at their eyes. But now, every time he looked he saw confusion. If he could only figure out what she wants, he could be that for her.

They arrived at the hotel and exited the car. “I’m going to call the coroner to confirm my autopsy results, did you want to start on your report?” she asked him.

“Sure.” He replied and headed into his room.

She watched him go and mentally kicked herself, he had a look on his face like a wounded puppy. Go talk to him Dana, she told herself. But made no move towards him. Two seconds later he was in his room and the door was closed, opportunity lost.

She walked inside her own room and sat down on the bed. What was wrong with her? Why did she keep pushing him away every time they got close? She knew it was a defensive mechanism, but she couldn’t help but think that the moment she gave in to this feeling the rug would be ripped out from under her. Was that stupid? After all, she had given in on so many other levels. She knew she would follow him where ever he goes, but should she?

Just then there was a knock on the door. She stood up and walked over to open it. Standing outside was Mulder, he was dressed in his running clothes and smiling. “Hey Scully, I’m too wired to write my report right now, do you want to come running with me?”

She thought about it for a moment but realised that even if she said no, she wasn’t going to be able to concentrate on her work either. “Let me get changed?” she asked and closed the door, she walked over to her suitcase hoping that she had packed something appropriate to work out in. thankfully she had a pair of leggings and some running shoes. Unfortunately she hadn’t packed any tee shirts. She sighed and threw on her bathrobe and walked over to open the door. He was still standing on the other side waiting for her. “I can’t go.” She said sadly.

“Why not?” he asked taking in her running shoes and pants peeking out under the robe.

She went pink. “I didn’t pack a shirt to wear, and I don’t really want to go running in a dress shirt.”

He laughed picturing it. “Hold on.” He said and headed back to his room. A minute later he was back with a grey Knicks tee in his hand. “Here you go.”

She took it with a wary look on her face, his shirts were more like dresses on her. But she closed the door and tried it on. It did come down to her thighs, but the leggings were tight and she felt more comfortable now that her ass was covered. She opened the door. “Ready.”

They took off together, he had to watch his pace quite a lot, not that she was by any means slow. But she still took two steps to his one, it was maddening. He turned to face her, still jogging backwards. “Hey Scully, I think this is the first time you have actually taken me up on coming for a run.”

“Your right Mulder, I think it is.” She said with a smile. She wondered why she had always declined, probably because she thought she would hold him back. But they seemed to find an easy rhythm that made it fun.

They jogged together in silence for a while, enjoying the Californian sun on their skin until they came to a tall building that was advertising rock climbing. They had stopped out front for a rest when Mulder looked over to her. “What do you say?” he asked pointing to the sign.

“Rock climbing? Really?” she replied with a sigh. She had done it before of course, it was part of training at Quantico, but she hadn’t enjoyed it. With her small stature she was the brunt of many a joke at the training facilities.

“Come on, it’ll be fun.” Said Mulder with a smile.

She rolled her eyes. Well, she had been stepping out of her comfort zone already today, why not. “Alright, but one height joke and we’re out of there.” She warned.


	6. Chapter 6

 

April 7, 2000, 5:23 PM

 

They were standing by a 30ft high wall covered with coloured grips shaped like rocks and ledges trying to put on their safety harnesses. Because they were new to the gym they had to wait for an instructor to go over the safety rules. Mulder couldn’t help but be surprised when a small dark haired woman walked over to them. “Hi, I’m Mariah and I’ll be your instructor today. Have either of you done any rock climbing before?”

They were both too stunned by the girl to answer. She was even shorter than Scully and looked to be in her late teens, hardly someone you expected to be an instructor. “It’s okay if you haven’t, its really easy once you get the hang of it.” Said the girl.

Scully finally recovered from her surprise to speak. “Excuse me, uh, how old are you?”

The girl smiled. “I’m twenty-four, but I know I look young. Trust me, I know what I’m talking about. For example, sir, you’re putting your harness on wrong.” She said walking over to Mulder he had twisted one of the straps around the leg harness, she quickly and unabashedly reached out and unclipped him, straightened the strap and buckled him back in, pulling the harness tight. “It was also too loose, you don’t want to fall out when your twenty feet in the air.”

He had gone very red and was passing panicked looks to Scully. Perhaps this was a bad idea, he thought. He didn’t get time to question himself any further as the girl was speaking again.

“Okay so what’s going to happen is before you even think about starting to climb the wall, you are going to clip yourself into the safety line.” She said walking over to a section of the wall with a rope hanging down. “Now this is important. Once you clip yourself on, you’re going to tighten the lock on the clip. Do not climb if you haven’t done this.” She stopped and looked around. “Do you need spotters?”

They looked at each other and shrugged. “We can spot for each other.” Said Mulder.

Mariah shook her head. “Look, you might be able to spot the little lady, but it’s not a good idea for her to spot you. How bout I get one of the other instructors over here to spot for you and I’ll spot for the Mrs okay?”

“Oh, were not married.” Said Scully quickly. Mulder glanced over at her, she seemed extra sensitive about that today.

Mariah didn’t appear to have heard her anyway as she was busy calling over one of the male instructors. A taller older gentleman with salt and pepper hair jogged up to them. “Hi, I’m Hayden.”

“Honey, can you spot the gentleman here please while he climbs?” Asked Mariah.

“Sure thing.”

“Okay, so I’m going to get Haden to spot me while I show you how to choose your grips. This is probably going to matter more to you.” She said nodding at Scully. “Don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t climb if you’re short, it’s all about picking the right places to put your hands and feet. The grips are colour coded by levels of difficulty with green being the easiest and pink the hardest. But don’t worry too much about that, just pick what feels comfortable and go with it.”

She started climbing and they watched with amazement as this tiny woman snaked her way to the top with ease. “Now when you get to the top.” Said Hayden. “You need to lean back like Mariah is now and basically sit in your harness, it’s our job as spotters to lower you down. So just hold on to the rope and walk your way down, got it?”

They nodded. “Alright then. “Said Mariah when she was safely on the ground. “Let’s get you two climbing.”

Scully let out a nervous breath as she walked up and clipped herself in, it had been almost ten years since she had done this and she wasn’t expecting to remember how to do any of it. She glanced over to Mulder and he flashed her a cocky smile. Of course he was good at this, she thought to herself I hope I don’t make too much of a fool out of myself. She reached up to grab her first grip and after deciding where to put her foot she was on the wall. It was a lot harder than she remembered trying to hold herself to the wall and pull herself up. She glanced over at him to see how he was going. He was further up than she was but he looked to be struggling a little too. She smiled and kept going. They were almost halfway up when he shouted out to her. “Hey Scully I told you this would be fun.”

“Sure Mulder, I’m having a blast.” She called back to him. He was somewhat stuck because of course he had chosen the pink path, and the next grip was out of his reach. He took a leap of faith and thought he was going to make it. But his fingers only brushed the grip and slipped. She watched as he seemed to hang there for a second before dropping down. “Mulder!” she called as he fell, but he didn’t go far, the spotter had caught him before he fell more than a foot. He swung into the wall and his head hit a grip with a resounding crack. He blinked up at her stupidly and made no attempt to grab onto the wall. “I’m coming down.” She shouted down to Mariah and waited for the rope to tighten before she sat back. She reached the ground before Mulder and was busy trying to unclip herself as he reached the bottom.

He was standing, so it couldn’t have been that bad, but you couldn’t be too careful, she thought as she walked over to check his head. She ran her fingers through his hair trying to feel if he had a lump. There was a red mark just near his hairline but it didn’t seem raised. She checked his eyes just in case. Mariah and Hayden were right next to her. “You took a big hit there big fella, are you okay?” Asked Mariah.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” He replied enjoying the feeling of Scully’s hands in his hair.

“I think that’s enough fun for one day don’t you think?” She asked with a smile.

“But Scully, we didn’t even make it to the top.” He half-heartedly argued.

“Next time okay?” She replied.

They thanked the instructors and took off their harnesses.

“If you come back again, I’ll give you half price.” Said Hayden as he walked them out. “I’m sorry man, I should have been paying closer attention.”

Mulder nodded, but he couldn’t see them trying this again anytime soon.

When they got out on the street Scully turned to him and laughed. “You went down like a sack of potatoes.”

“I was just out of practice. “He grumbled and they started walking back to the hotel.

They stopped on the way to pick up Chinese food for dinner. When they got back they headed to Mulder’s room to eat. “Did you have fun at least?” He asked her.

“I did thank you, but now it’s time to do some work.” She said finishing off her Mushu pork. “I’m going to take a shower and start on my report, I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Night Scully.” He said as she reached the door.

“Night Mulder.” She replied.

 

****

Mulder rolled over and checked the clock, it was after three in the morning and he still couldn’t sleep. He told himself the bed was too lumpy and the sheets were scratchy, but he knew what he was missing. She was sleeping less than six feet away from him, in another room. He missed the warmth of her in the bed, and the way she would press her feet against his legs when she was cold. If he closed his eyes he could almost remember the smell of her skin, the scent of vanilla, apples, and the slightest hint of sweat.

He sighed and grabbed the remote to the TV, turning it on and muting the sound. Of course at this time of night the only thing that was on was infomercials, and he never had to worry about male pattern baldness. But at least it was mindless enough for him to shut off his brain. He had just settled himself into the sheets to wait out the dawn when he heard a quiet moan coming from behind the adjoining room door. The nightmare must have started. He lay there indecisively wondering if he should try to wake her up or let it play out. “Mulder No!” She cried out loudly.

He was up in a flash opening his door and knocking on hers. “Scully!” he called out, trying to wake her.

He heard her scream. “No! No, I won’t hurt him. Mulder! Help!” He clasped the doorknob and to his surprise, it turned easily in his hand. She must have unlocked it, he thought as he stepped into the dark room. He could see her tangled up in the sheets, thrashing. He quickly moved over to sit on the bed and take her into is arms. She was clammy with a thin coating of sweat covering her brow.

“Shhh, Scully, it’s alright. I’m here, you’re safe.” He said into her ear.

Her eyes flew open panicked, she pulled in a huge breath and coughed. He patted her back with one hand while he hugged her with the other. “Mulder?” She asked quietly.

“Yeah, I’m here, it was just a dream.” He said softly.

She looked up at him tears brimming in her deep blue eyes. “I killed you.” She said before she started to cry.

“What are you talking about, I’m fine. It was just a bad dream.”

She looked so fragile in that moment, his heart was breaking. “I’m sorry.” She said so quietly he almost missed it.

He reached over and flicked on the lamp, and then turned to capture her face in his hands. “Hey, you don’t need to be sorry. Tell me about your dream?”

She shook her head. “It’s awful, you don’t want to hear it.”

“I do, I want to know what’s upsetting you.” He said holding her eyes with his. “Let’s get you a glass of water and then you can tell me all about it.”

She nodded and he got off the bed to remove a water bottle from the mini fridge by the desk. When he came back to the bed she moved forward so that he could sit behind her and hold her in his arms.

He handed her the bottle and she took a sip and then a deep breath. “It always starts the same, I’m in a room surrounded by candles and I can hear him there with me.” She let a small shudder across her back before continuing. “I manage to get out of the room and away but then I’m trapped in total darkness, that’s when he starts to talk to me.”

He didn’t need her to tell him who she was referring too, Donnie Pfaster was still haunting her. “What does he say?”

“He tells me that, I’m his now, and that I can’t get away. He tells me that we’re the same.” She said softly.

“What do you do then?” he asked.

“I run, as fast as I can but I can’t see anything until-“ She stops talking abruptly.

“Until?” he asked softly rubbing her arms.

“Until I find my way back into the room with the candles, but I’m not alone in there anymore. You’re lying on the bed. I hug you, and then I shoot you. You die, I, I kill you. And then he tells me that we are the same again. That’s when I wake up.”

He lets out a long breath, no wonder she has been so strange with him lately. He couldn’t imagine what it would be like to have to watch her die by his hand every night. “You know that you’re nothing like him, don’t you?” she turns her head down and starts to fiddle with the comforter. “Scully, you are the kindest, sweetest human being on the planet and you would never hurt me or anyone else.”

“I hurt him, I killed him.” She said softly.

“Yes, but you had too. It was such a difficult choice for you to make your body made it for you unconsciously. It changes nothing, God Scully, you are the only person in this world I trust with my life. I.” He stopped himself before he went any further, now was not the time to tell her how he felt. This was about her, not him.

“Can you just stay with me for a while? Just until I fall back to sleep? I, I just don’t want to be alone right now.”

“Always.” He replied.


	7. Chapter 7

 

April 8, 2000, 8:45 AM

They both looked a little tired as the strolled into the bank, it had been a long morning. Mulder had managed to catch a couple of hours of sleep with Scully curled up in his arms and they were both glad when they woke up together. Still it had been slow going as they prepared themselves for their meeting with the magician’s brother. They were both a little irritable on the drive over to the bank, both hoping that the brother would finally shine a light on this strange case.

They entered the bank together, looking around for their man, but he was nowhere in sight.

“Excuse me.” Said Mulder to a dark woman with a name tag on. “I’m looking for Mr. Albert Pinchbeck.”

“He’s the gentleman right over there.” She said pointing to an office in the far right corner of the bank. “The poor man.” She said before walking away.

Mulder wondered what she meant by that but Scully was already walking towards the office so he didn’t have time to ask. As they approached they could see a man through the blinds. A man who looked identical to their dead magician, a man wearing a brace around his neck. “He look familiar to you Scully?” He asked.

“He certainly does.” She replied shaking her head. It was almost uncanny. She no longer had any doubts in her mind, this was the man that performed at the magic show two days ago.

“The plot thickens.” He joked, he was happy they were finally going to get some answers.

“He might try and run.” She said wisely and they steeled themselves to the idea of giving chase.

Scully knocked on the door. “Come in.” Called Mr. Pinchbeck and they opened the door. “Good morning Mr and Mrs-“

“Agents.” He corrected quickly pulling out his badge to show the man. “Mulder and Scully, FBI.” Scully grabbed out hers to show the man as well.

“You’re not here for a home loan, I take it.” Said Pinchbeck.

Mulder smiled and sat down in one of the chairs opposite the man, Scully took the other. “No, we are investigating the death of a magician who called himself the Amazing Maleeni.” She said dryly.

“Herman Pinchbeck, my twin brother.” Said the man, he didn’t seem to upset or surprised.

“Yes, we know. We checked his next of kin.” Said Scully.

“What happened to your neck, Mr. Pinchbeck?” Asked Mulder.

“I was in a car accident.” Replied the man matter of factly.

“Car accident.” He repeated. “So your injured neck has nothing to do with a magic trick you performed at the Santa Monica Pier two days ago? One which involved you turning your head around 360 degrees?”

“No, that wasn’t me. I was in a bad car accident in Mexico.”

“Oh a bad Mexican car accident. In Mexico” Replied Mulder, he couldn’t believe it, this was going to be easy. The man obviously couldn’t lie to save himself.

“Do you know magic Mr. Pinchbeck?” Asked Scully.

“Yes, I do. Back in the 70s my brother and I performed together.” He replied.

“Why did you stop?” Mulder enquired.

“You never really stop.” Said Pinchbeck reaching into his desk to remove a packet of cards. He pulled out the cards and spread them out in his hands holding them out to Mulder.

“Pick a card any card?” He asked before leaning in to pull out the king of diamonds. He showed the card to Scully before putting it back in the deck.

Pinchbeck then shuffled the deck before cutting it, he let the cards cascade into his hand and as the fell away they revealed the king of diamonds as the last remaining card. He placed it at the front of his desk to show the agents.

“Hmm, very impressive.” Said Mulder.

“My brother and I both wanted to do the absolute best magic the world had ever seen. The difference was, I knew we’d never get there. But he always believed we would. We didn’t talk much after I quit the act.”

“I have a theory Mr Pinchbeck, and I’m going to tell you how it goes. I think that your brother Herman died of heart disease, having never made it as the world’s greatest magician, and I think that hurt you. Just as your estrangement from him hurt you. And I think what you did for him was perform his last act for him, one last act for which he’d always be remembered, one last act that would end with such a shock, such a dénouement, as would be forever remembered in the annals of magic.” Said Mulder. He stared down the man daring him to prove him wrong. “That’s what I think.”

“I so wish that were true.” Said Pinchbeck and pushed himself back from the desk. He reached down to his sides and wheeled himself back far enough for the agents to see. He was in ha wheelchair, and his legs were cut off at the knees. “It was a very bad car accident in Mexico.”

“Thank you for your time Mr. Pinchbeck, we’ll be in touch.” Said Scully hurriedly.

“Please do, I truly want to know who was responsible for my brothers final act.” Said the man flatly.

The agents excused themselves and left, closing the door behind them. When they were a safe distance away Mulder turned to Scully. “Oy.” He said.

“No kidding.” She replied and they both laughed at the ridiculousness of it all. “What now?”

“Guy’s head falls off, it’s the greatest trick in the world. Only there’s no discernible point to it. What’s the reason for doing that in the first place?” he mused.

“Well, why do people do magic? To, uh, impress, to delight, to gain attention.”

“Well, this one's gained mostly police attention.” He said and then it occurred to him. “Maybe that’s the point.”

“Well, maybe we should consult an expert, someone who knows magic, who’s seen the greatest trick in the world, maybe he can help us figure that out.” She said with a smirk forming on her face.

“Mozart.” Whispered Mulder.

“Yeah. “She replied.

As they walked out to the car Mulder pulled out his cell phone and called up the local PD. “Hey, yeah. Can you get a couple uniforms together to go and find us Billy LaBonge and bring him down to the impound lot, we need him to answer a few questions.”

****

They arrived at the lot before LaBonge, but they were assured he was on route, and he didn’t seem too happy about it either.

“So why the impound lot Mulder?” She asked him.

“It’s the only thing we haven’t looked into yet, I mean, we know our mystery man didn’t leave any fingerprints, but there is still probably a bucket load of information in the back of this van if we know how to read it right.”

Scully nodded, it was a long shot, but they didn’t have anything else to go on.

LaBonge arrived flanked by two LAPD officers. “Hey, what’s this about? Why did you set the goons on me?”

“Mr. LaBonge, glad you could make it, we have a proposition for you.” She said walking up to him.

“Thank you, officers, we’ll take it from here.” Said Mulder sending the officers away. “Hi, Billy. We want your help with this case, we figured you could provide us some insight into Maleeni’s life.”

“What’s in it for me?” Asked Billy. “I mean, let’s say I help you out, what do I get in return?”

“The feeling of pride that comes from performing your civic duty.” Replied Scully. LaBonge didn’t seem impressed.

“How about the chance to root through the professional secrets of your least favourite magician?” Supplemented Mulder.

Billy shrugged. “Good for a laugh I guess.”

Mulder smiled at the man and headed over to the van, which was covered by a blue tarpaulin. Scully followed behind as he pulled the tarp off exposing the back doors of the van. She and Mulder each grabbed a door and pulled it open for LaBonge to see inside. He reached in and pulled out an open suitcase full of strange paraphernalia and placed it on the floor. “Man, it’s worse than I thought.” He said grabbing a top hat off of a shelf. He pulled a heavy cloth from the bottom of it and out flew two white doves. While the agents were looking at the birds he placed the top hat on Scully’s head. “You got to feed those things, you know.”

She let it rest there for a moment glancing over at Mulder to see what he thought of her in the silly hat, but his attention was back on LaBonge and the van. She realised what was probably sitting in the hat in because of the birds and quickly removed it and checked. She was disappointed to find that there was indeed a thin layer of bird excrement in the bottom, and hoped it hadn’t gotten in her hair.

“So, Maleeni wasn’t murdered.” Confirmed LaBonge.

“It would seem not.” She replied. Dropping the hat to the floor.

“So someone impersonated him, and his crappy act. It’s impressive.” Said Billy, he was still rifling through the truck. Now he pulled out an old antique revolver and pulled the trigger, out popped a piece of wood with a tiny flag on it that read BANG. “I’d say the twin brother did it, but I don’t think he’s any better a magician than Maleeni was.”

“There’s that, and he’s got no legs.” Replied Mulder wryly.

Scully looked away to keep the smile off her face, she could tell that he was getting irritated with the small man. LaBonge was always talking, but he seemed to never actually say anything.

“Yeah, Whatever.” Replied Billy. “Anyway, we’re looking for a magician with the same height and build. A good makeup job and the right wig, and no one would know the difference.”

“Not even you I guess.” Scully retorted.

“I had a couple Jell-O Shots in me.” He admitted.

“How did this impersonator switch out the dead body?” Asked Mulder, trying to bring the magician back to task.

“With ease, you’re gonna kick yourselves when I show you how he did this, it’s so simple. Because magic is all about….” He brought up his hand and wiggled his fingers. “Misdirection.”

Mulder turned to Scully and mockingly repeated the gesture. She gave him a look to let him know she wasn’t impressed.

“Your impersonator simply made sure everyone was looking the other way, when he pulled Maleeni’s body from its secret hiding place, underneath, the floor.” Said Billy reaching down to pull one of the tiles that covered the base of the van up, exposing the metal floor underneath. He stood confused for a moment and started pulling at the other tiles, nothing. No hidden compartment, no secret trap door, there was nothing underneath but the vans metal floor. “Man, this guy’s good.”

The agents felt their spirits drop, another dead end. Just like that, they were back to square one, with nothing to show for it. None of this made any sense, to either of them. Why go to the effort of making a man appear murdered and then not leave any evidence? Mulder looked down and saw a scrap of paper poking out from under the suitcase LaBonge had put down earlier, he leaned down to pick it up.

“Thanks for your expert opinion.” Said Scully. “I guess we’re right back where we started.”

Mulder was reading the paper. “Maybe not. You said that the Amazing Maleeni had some gambling debts?”

“Yeah, that’s what I heard.” Replied Billy.

“Check this out.” He said handling the paper to Scully. “Looks like a marker, $20,000 Pinchbeck.”

“What would this be doing in Maleeni’s van?” she asked.

“Let’s see if we can find out.” He replied before turning to Billy. “Thank you Mr. LaBonge, I’m sure we can muddle our way through this now. You’ve been a big help.”

“That’s it? I can go?” Said Billy.

“Yes, thank you.” Replied Scully before signalling an officer over to escort him out.

“Check this for fingerprints.” Said Mulder handling the man the paper before turning back to Scully. “So, it’s a waiting game again I guess.”

“Guess so, what do you want to do now?” She replied with a smile.

 


	8. Chapter 8

April 8, 2000, 8:45 PM

 

Mulder laid out his cards with a defeated expression. “You win again.” He said exasperatedly.

Scully smiled and reached across the small table to collect her winnings, a pile of Cheetos. “I think I bankrupted you, did you want to keep playing? I could write you a marker?” she joked.

They were playing poker, and she was annihilating him, she couldn’t tell if she was reading him well or he was just letting her win, but either way she was having fun.

“Oh God no, who knows what trouble I could get myself into.” He said, his hand darted across the table to snatch a chip before she could react. He was glad she was having fun, this entire case was so confusing and it was taking so long. But at least they were getting plenty of down time together.

She was just about to reply when she heard her cell phone ring. “Hold that thought, and stop stealing my winnings.” She teased before getting up and collecting her phone from her coat. “Scully.” She answered.

“Dana, Hi.”

Scully turned to Mulder holding her hand over the speaker. “It’s Ellen.” She whispered. He nodded and waved her off before heading towards the adjoining door. He knew that Ellen was her best friend and figured whatever they wanted to discuss warranted privacy.

“Hey Ellie, what’s up?” She asked after he left.

“Nothing much, I just haven’t heard from you since your birthday so I figured I would give you a call. So what are you up to?”

Scully sighed. “I’m on a case actually, a very frustrating case. I can’t figure it out at all.”

“Hmm, can I help?” Replied Ellen.

“Not likely, plus you know I can’t talk about active cases.”

“Well, where are you anyway? Are you still in D.C?”

“No, I’m in L.A actually.” Replied Scully.

“Ooh, that’s fun, is Mulder with you?” She asked snickering.

Scully rolled her eyes. “Yes, Mulder’s here too. So what’s new with you?” She asked trying to deflect the conversation back to Ellen.

“Oh, nothing much. Sadie broke her arm a few weeks ago but she’s doing fine now.”

“What? How?” Asked Scully concerned.

“Oh, you know, kids. One of her friends dared her to climb onto the banister and she fell, she’s lucky that a broken arm is all she got. As for the friends, they won’t be sleeping over at our house anytime soon.” Replied Ellen warily.

“Sounds like she’s being a handful.” She agreed.

“Trust me Dana, when you have kids, you’ll understand. I just hope you have boys, they’re so much easier, give them a video game and you’ll never have to see them.”

Scully felt a pang in her chest at the mention of her having kids, but she pushed it aside. “I don’t think that’s going to be a problem for me, my life is not exactly conducive to children.” She said diplomatically.

“Well, it’s only been a couple of months for you two, but you never know, you’re not getting any younger you know.”

“Thanks, Ellen, you always know just what to say to a girl.” She said sarcastically.

“I’m sorry, I’m just glad to see you happy is all. It’s about time. You are still together, aren’t you? I haven’t put my foot into it big time have I?”

“No, we’re still…. Whatever we are….”

“Dany, are you having second thoughts? Or has he done something stupid?” Asked Ellen, concern playing in her voice.

“No, no, Mulder’s……. well…… wonderful really.” She trailed off.

“So what’s the problem?”

Damn her perceptiveness, she thought. Even over the phone on the other side of the country, she still couldn’t hide from her best friend. She suddenly wished she had let the phone go to voicemail. “There is no problem, I don’t know I’m just being silly.”

“Dana, talk to me! Come on, I know you better than anyone. I can tell when you’re not being truthful.”

She sighed. “I just can’t help feeling like I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop. Right now he is making me feel so special, but I know at the end of the day I will never be his number one priority, he’s a workaholic. So am I for that matter, it’s working right now, and I’m happy right now. But every time I think about the future….. It’s just blank, I don’t see where we go from here.”

“Hmm, I get it. Well, has he given you any indication that he’s serious about you?”

She thought about that seriously, he had been making an effort to include her more in his activities outside of work lately. Not just for physical reasons either. It didn’t feel like it was just about sex anymore, but he still hadn’t confirmed any emotional attachment yet. “I don’t know, I think we had our first real date the other day. But maybe I’m just reading into it too deeply.”

Ellen chuckled. “I have never met two people who need to DTR more than you two.”

“DTR?” She asked.

“Define the relationship,” Ellen explained.

Scully laughed, it would be easier to prove the existence of extra-terrestrials than have an actual conversation about relationships with Mulder. “I don’t think that’s going to happen anytime soon. But anyway enough about me and my sad love life how’s Tom?”

“He got a new secretary.” Replied Ellen. “She’s blonde and leggy with enormous boobs. Tom doesn’t seem to understand why I have a problem with her.”

****

Mulder could hear Scully’s laughter echoing through the wall. He had the TV on and was fighting the urge to press his ear to the door to hear what she was talking about. He’d never had a best friend like Ellen, the closest he got would probably be the Gunmen, and they weren’t much company. He couldn’t remember anyone but her making him laugh like that before. Sure he had buddies back in college, but that was back in England, he was sure they never even thought about him now.

He wondered what it would be like if he actually had friends, would it have made losing Sam easier? At least he might have had somewhere to go when his Dad drank too much and the screaming started. Despite everything she had lost, he took comfort in knowing that she would always have family and friends to fall back on. It was a hard line for him to balance on, by having no one else he relied hard on her to guide him. But he also had to give her the space she needed.

Before Scully, he had been used to being alone, neither Fiona or Diana had ever filled that void. But when he was with Scully, it was like that void never existed. He had to be so careful not to abuse the care she took of him. It was strange, he had felt in from their very first case, that connection. He had finally felt like the answers were in reach. But seven years later they were no closer to the truth and she had lost so much. He was selfish, even now, especially now. He should have told her to go years ago, at the very least after her abduction. But he didn’t, he couldn’t. His own selfish needs overwhelmed him, she was the rope that tethered him to reality, and he was dependent on her. That was why he would wait for her.

He shook his head angrily at the stupidity of it all, he had tied himself to an angel, and when he finally destroyed her, it would only be his fault.


	9. Chapter 9

 

April 8, 2000, 10:35 PM

 

He heard her knock on his door and quickly got up to open it, she was dressed in her pyjamas, her hair still damp from the shower. “Hi, how was Ellen?” He asked smiling.

She looked up at him nervously. “Good, Sadie broke her arm.” She said dumbly.

“Sadie?”

“Her daughter.” She explained.

They stood in the doorway awkwardly, she could smell his body wash on his skin which was still pink from his hot shower. “Did you want to play some more cards?” He asked.

“No, I was wondering, well, it's fine if you don’t want to, but I was hoping…..”

She looked flustered, a slight blush was rising from her neck up her cheeks. “What is it Scully?” He asked softly.

She looked down, hoping he wouldn’t notice her red face. “I was wondering if I could sleep in here with you tonight, just because of the dreams.” She didn’t know what possessed her to ask him, she felt so stupid, but he had been so comforting this morning, and she was so tired. She just wanted to feel safe for the night.

He opened the door wider and stepped back to admit her into the room. She smiled gratefully and walked over to the bed, pulling back the unrumpled left side of the covers and sliding herself underneath.

She felt the bed sink under his weight as he slipped in beside her, a moment later his arms were around her waist. “You know, you don’t have to ask. You’re always welcome here, for any reason.” He said huskily in her ear.

She reached out and turned off the lamp before snuggling back into his arms. “Good night Mulder.”

“Night Scully.”

****

 

_He was on a beach, he could smell the salt in the air and hear the waves curling upon the shore. A cool breeze whipped through his white tee but the sun was warm on his back. He let his bare feet dig into the sand, enjoying the grainy texture as they scrubbed against his soles. To his right he saw a boy, he looked familiar like someone he had seen before a thousand dreams ago. The boy was playing in the sand near the water, building something, but he was too far away to see what. Silently he approached the boy. As he got close he saw that this was not the boy he remembered, he was similar, but this boy had blue eyes, and the faintest hint of strawberry in his hair. “What are you doing?” He asked. The boy didn’t reply, he just continued to dig in the sand. “Does your mother know where you are?” He tried._

_The boy looked up at the man, his steel blue eyes were shocking, and yet, they reminded him of eyes he had looked into every day. Wordlessly the boy pointed behind him, further up the beach. He turned to look where the boy was directing and he saw her._

_She was dressed in a white sundress, its hem scraped the sand as she stood. Her hair was longer than he remembered, cascading down her back. The way the sunlight caught the red locks made it look like she had a halo. She smiled at him and held out her arms, beckoning him to her. He looked back at the boy, but he was safe enough by the water._

_It seemed to take years for him to walk across the beach to her, with every step he took she seemed further away than before. But finally just when his steps started to labour, she was there. He reached out and took her hand in his, and she pressed her other hand to his face. She was different than he knew her, lighter, as if the weight of the world had left her and she was free._

_She smiled up at him. “Are you happy Fox?” she asked him._

_“Happy?” he replied looking back at the boy._

_“Is this enough for you?”_

_He thought for a moment, realising what she was asking him. Could he give up his search for the truth for her? For the promise of a family? “Yeah, this is enough.” He said softly as she folded herself into him. They turned to watch the boy….. Their son….. As he played amongst the sand, and he smiled._


	10. Chapter 10

April 9, 2000, 7:00 AM

The loud jarring sound of the alarm clock woke them, Mulder sat up excited. Hopefully, they would have fingerprints from that marker that they could chase down. He reached over and turned off the alarm, pausing to look at his partners resting face. If only he could wake up to her every day. She looked peaceful and he knew the dream had not bothered her again. He silently slipped out of the covers hoping to give her a few more minutes of sleep and threw on his pants. After he grabbed the phone from the desk where he had left it the night before, he used the adjoining doors to head into her room to make his call.

“LAPD, how can I help you?”

“Ah, yes, Agent Mulder from the FBI I was hoping you had the results of the fingerprint analysis is sent through yesterday.”

“One moment please.” Replied the voice. “I’m transferring you to crime lab please hold.”

He waited for the call to be picked up and then explained what he was looking for.

“Oh yes, Agent Mulder, your prints came in last night. I’m sorry did you not get a phone call?” Said the man from the crime lab.

“No I didn’t, otherwise, I wouldn’t be calling.” Said Mulder exasperated.

“Well, there was only one set of prints on it. We remembered your last print was from an ex-con so on a hunch we ran it through the California Criminal History Database and got a hit straight away. Cissy Alvarez, he’s a known criminal, been out of prison for about eighteen months now.”

Mulder nodded writing down the information. “What was he in prison for?”

“Theft mostly, a couple of bank jobs as well as grand larceny, he’s got a history of violence as well. I tell you if you have a chance to put Alvarez back behind bars I welcome it. Vice has been looking into him since he got out, but he’s been good at keeping his hands clean.”

“Well, we’ll see where this take us, thank you.” He replied hanging up. He sighed and went back to wake Scully up.

****

An hour and a half later they were headed down to North Hollywood Billiards Hall, the pool hall that Alvarez used as a base of operations. They had already stopped to pick up the evidence from the police station, the marker they were sure was Alvarez’s. “So what do you think Scully?” He asked glancing over at her in the passenger seat.

“I don’t know Mulder, it doesn’t seem likely that Alvarez would kill him for that marker, I mean the debt wasn’t that old, and you can’t make money off a dead man.” She replied.

He nodded. “What’s interesting to me is that Pinchbeck’s brother didn’t mention any debts the other day when we visited. I mean, he has a good job, probably has savings. Why wouldn’t Maleeni have asked him for a loan?”

“Pride, maybe.” She postured. “Albert did say they weren’t talking. Maybe Maleeni was trying to fix it on his own.”

“Yeah, but you said it Scully, you can’t make money off a dead man. Surely Alvarez has stopped in to see the brother try and squeeze him for money, after all, these people pride themselves in knowing how to find and exploit others weaknesses.”

She shook her head. “So what do you think happened Mulder?”

He tapped on the steering wheel thoughtfully. “I don’t know yet, but something isn’t adding up.”

He pulled the car into park out front of the pool hall and they got out. Mulder unconsciously kept Scully behind him as they entered. The man they were looking for was towards the back lining up a shot on the table. He was covered in tattoos, they ran from the back of his hand's all the way up to his neck, they headed down to him and Mulder dropped the evidence bag carrying the marker on the pool table before he could take the shot.

“That’s your handwriting, is it not?” Scully asked the man, he looked up and shot her a look of disgust. She coolly stared him down. “Mr. Alvarez, please answer the question.” She didn’t need to remind him that he was still on parole and was obligated to answer any questions put to him by law enforcement.

“That ain’t mine. I don’t know where you got that.” he spat.

“Interesting. Yours are the only fingerprints on it.” said Mulder smugly.

“We ran it through the California criminal history database, to which you seem to be quite well known.” Supplied Scully.

“So it’s my marker. So Pinchbeck owed me money, it was a friendly game of poker.”

“Very friendly.” Agreed Mulder. “$20,000 friendly.”

“Where did you find that?” asked Alvarez.

“In Herman Pinchbeck’s van. Where were you last Thursday?” She asked.

“Here. All day. Ask them.” He replied gesturing to his friends at the other table. Scully turned to see the burly men as they tried to stare down the agents menacingly, it made her smile. They had seen far worse than a couple of wannabe gangsters in their day. “What is it you think I did to Pinchbeck huh? What’s in it for me? If I kill him, he ain’t gonna pay me.”

Scully smiled, that’s exactly what they thought already. “Why did you play him in the first place? You knew he was a professional magician.” Asked Mulder.

“I didn’t know what he was. And he sure as hell couldn’t play worth a damn.”

“Don’t leave town, Mr. Alvarez.” Said Scully turning to leave.

Mulder stepped back to let her pass and then reached out for the evidence bag, making sure to collect a pool ball as he picked it up. At the very least he could mess up his game. He caught up to Scully as they left the building. “Don’t you find it odd that the Amazing Maleeni is a lousy poker player? I mean, this is a guy who’s adept at manipulating cards.”

“Maybe he wasn’t so adept.” She countered. “LaBonge certainly didn’t have a high opinion of his skills.” She said stopping to face him.

He clapped his hands together. “There is another possibility.” He said and reached into his pocket. “Behold.” He said holding out a coin in his right hand. “An ordinary household quarter. I’m going to take the quarter from my right hand and place it in my left hand.” He moved his hands together so the quarter wasn’t visible and then held up his fists. “Where is it?”

She smiled up at him. “It’s in your right hand.” She said reaching out to tap his hand.

His fist sprang open to reveal his empty palm. “Oh, no,no,no.” He said wiggling his fingers. She reached out and opened his left hand. It was also empty. “Ah.” He said with a smile.

“That’s not bad.” She replied happily.

“Yeah, blow your nose Scully.” He said pinching her nose with the fingers of his right hand.

“Mulder.” She warned trying to pull away from him.

“Blow your nose, come on, blow.” He replied redoubling his efforts.

She rolled her eyes and said. “Ah-choo.”

Out dropped the quarter from his hand. “Ta da!” He said.

“Amazing.” She replied in a slightly patronizing voice.

“Look at that The Great Muldeeni.” He said holding his hand up to show her the coin.

“And what’s the point?” She asked.

“Its misdirection, it’s the heart of magic just like LaBonge said I made you look in one direction while the quarter went in the other.” He replied.

“And that’s what you think is happening in this case?”

“I think we are being led around by our noses.” He surmised.

“By whom? Maleeni’s already dead.”

“Certainly, would appear so, but then again, you thought the quarter was in the right hand.” He said and got into the car.

She followed behind him. “So what, you think he’s alive? But then who did I do the autopsy on Mulder?”

“I think we should pay the grieving brother another visit don’t you.” He said as they drove away.


	11. Chapter 11

 

April 9, 2000, 12:45 AM

Scully shut the car door behind herself. “But he has no legs, Mulder.” It was the same argument they had been having the whole drive to the bank. He was sure that the brother was behind this entire strange case, and she didn’t understand how.

“Are you sure?” He asked her with a knowing smile.

She sighed angrily. “I saw him, you saw him too. Tell me, if he was impersonating his brother how he could do that without legs. Or are you saying he cut them off himself to through suspicion off.”

Mulder chuckled. “Well that would certainly be committing to the trick wouldn’t it?”

She felt so frustrated, he knew something, but like always, he wasn’t talking. She stalked off towards the bank to find Pinchbeck and get this sorted out.

Pinchbeck was in his office, he looked up as they entered. “Agents, an unexpected surprise, good afternoon.”

“We’d like to have a word with you Mr. Pinchbeck.” She said as Mulder walked over to the man and grabbed the back of his wheelchair.

“I’m fairly busy actually.” Argued the older man.

“I’ll bet.” Said Mulder wheeling him out from behind the desk.

“Hey!”

“Let’s take a little spin shall we?” He said pushing him from the room

The walked into a large conference room up the hall from his office. “What’s this all about?” Asked Pinchbeck.

“It’s about misdirection Mr. Pinchbeck.” Said Mulder into his ear. “Or should I say, The Amazing Maleeni.”

Before she could do anything about it, he had pushed the chair over and sent the man flying to the floor. “Mulder!” She called but it was too late. She looked down at the man on the floor and saw something unexpected. Legs, the man on the floor had legs. He must have hidden them somehow because she was sure when she had looked before there had been no way he could have had legs.

“It’s a trick Scully.” He said and she watched with amazement as the magician stood up. “Voila.”

“Had you fooled.” Said Pinchbeck pulling off the neck brace.

“You’re Maleeni?” She asked.

The man nodded. “Call me Herman.”

“You better start talking then Herman, because I for one would like to know what the hell is going on here.” She said.

Herman sat down in one of the chairs at the conference desk and pulled out a pack of cards from his pocket. He was busy fiddling with them as the agents stood at the end of the table looking down at him. “I was afraid for my life. That’s why I did what I did, I’m not proud of that. But I owe a lot of money that I can’t possibly pay back.”

“We know.” Said Scully. “Gambling debts to a man named Alvarez.”

“Yeah, that tattooed psychopath. I’ve since heard terrible stories about him, things he did to fellow inmates.”

“So why’d you play poker with him?” She asked.

“He runs a good game, I gamble to supplement my income. God knows magic barely pays.”

“Well, why did you lose? You could have manipulated the cards, right?” Asked Scully.

“Cheat? You’re asking me why I don’t cheat at cards.”

“Well, you could right?” She pressed.

“Of course, I could.” He said shuffling the deck of cards in his hands and pulling out four aces. “But how would I live with myself? Who raised you?”

She went pink in the cheeks, it’s hard in this job not to expect the worst in people. “Well, sir…… what does any of this have to do with your twin brother being found decapitated at the Santa Monica Pier?”

“I went to my brother for a loan, just my luck and his.” He trailed off.

“You found him dead of a heart attack.” She finished.

“His body was still warm. Looking at him lifeless, I saw myself and my own eventual mortality. I saw all the things I meant to accomplish but didn’t. It was an opportunity to vanish, to become someone else. Like I said, I’m not proud of what I did.”

“And so you refrigerated the body.” She pressed.

“I needed time to figure out how I was going to pull it all off. Impersonating my brother, I called the bank. Told them I needed a vacation week, a trip to Mexico. Then the bank received word that I had been in a terrible accident. It gave me plenty of time away from work.”

“And you posed as an amputee to allay suspicion that you weren’t your brother.” Scully concluded.

“That, and I rather enjoyed the sympathy, especially from the women in our office.”

Mulder let out a small laugh and Scully looked up at him, she didn’t find this funny, she found it awful. “You, uh, still haven’t explained why you left your brother’s body at the pier, or why you arranged to have his head fall off.”

“He explained it.” Said Maleeni, nodding to Mulder. “He put it so eloquently when we last spoke. It was my final performance. I wanted to go out with such a shock, such a dénouement as would ever be remembered in the annals of magic.”

Somehow that was so much worse to Scully, with all his talk, it had never occurred to the magician that his brother was a person. Not a prop.

“That was your last performance.” Said Mulder reaching into his pocket to pull out handcuffs.

“What’s this for?” Asked Maleeni.

“I still think you’ve got a few tricks up your sleeve.” He replied.

“We’ll need to let the manager know, after all, this is a bank.” She said practically.

“Yes, and I want to have a look at his desk and see what he’s really doing here.” he replied walking out of the room.

“Mulder, what do you mean? Mulder?” She called after him. But it was clear he was already off looking for whatever it was he was searching for. She sighed and pulled Maleeni to his feet. “Come on Mr. Pinchbeck.”

They found Mulder outside of Pinchbecks office, talking to a panicked looking man in a grey suit. His eyes grew even wider as he took in Herman standing next to Scully with cuffs on. “I can’t believe it.” Said the man, whom Scully assumed was the manager.

They walked into the office and Mulder proceeded to paw through Pinchbecks draws. The manager stood nearby wringing his hands together, while Scully and the magician stood in the doorway.

“My God. We gave you handicapped parking. We built you a ramp.” Said the manager.

“Did he have access to the vaults?” Asked Mulder moving on to another draw. So far he had found nothing out of the ordinary.

“Well, yes, he has a key to the day gate. Several of us do.” Replied the manager.

“What are you looking for Mulder?” Asked Scully.

Mulder slammed the draw closed, still nothing. “Any hint at all as to why Maleeni here is really impersonating his brother.” He tapped on the computer on the desk. “What about this? Could he have removed the funds electronically?”

“Well, he didn’t have security clearance for EFT’s Electronic Funds Transfers.” Said the man in the grey suit.

“Maybe he got around the security. Can we check the withdrawal records?” Argued Mulder.

“It would require your badge number and thumbprint, and probably a federal subpoena to boot. Where extra cautious with the EFT’s, you can understand why. There may be an easier way.” Scully was looking at the vault sign out log that was sitting on the desk, so she didn’t notice the manager log on to the computer and check the transaction listings. “If I call up a transactions list for this terminal….” Mulder watched as the screen changed, the history was cleared, no transactions from this terminal. “No, everything’s in order.” Said the manager.

Maleeni, who had been fiddling with the handcuffs while this was all going on, pulled them free and held them up to show Mulder with a smile. Mulder rolled his eyes, but the man made no attempt to run.

“Mulder, it says here something about a robbery attempt yesterday.” Said Scully reading the sign in log.

“Yeah, that wasn’t against us. But the armoured transport service we deal with.” The manager quickly defended. “No money was taken, and no suspects were caught.”

“Yeah, well, Mr. Pinchbeck was the employee who signed out the truck. He knew the schedule.” Replied Scully.

“I had nothing to do with that.” Said Maleeni.

“Maybe, maybe not.” She replied.

“We’ll hold you till we find out.” Said Mulder walking over and grabbing his cuffs back off the man. “Make sure you don’t pull a vanishing act.”

Together they walked him to their rental car and put him in the back. It had been a rather difficult endeavour as all of the bank employees had come out to look at their conman as he walked past, but eventually, they got him in the back and sat in the front. Mulder hadn’t bothered putting the cuffs back on as he was sure Maleeni would just remove them again, and besides, whatever the magician was up to, he seemed to have no problem with being taken into custody. They drove in silence toward the local station.

Maleeni leaned over towards the front and said. “Can we stop for burgers? I skipped lunch.”

The turned to look at each other before both saying at the same time. “NO!”

 


	12. Chapter 12

 

April 9, 2000, 4:45 PM

Scully stretched her shoulders and tried to release some of the tension in her back. It had taken forever to have Maleeni processed as they weren’t sure what to charge him with. He couldn’t go into the drunk tank and he hadn’t been caught doing anything illegal, despite all the unusual circumstances surrounding him. Technically he could be done with identity theft, but with the brother deceased, they would have a hard time pressing charges. Scully wanted him charge with desecrating a body but there was no physical proof tying him to the crime. Eventually they filed him under suspicion to commit grand larceny which at least meant that they could hold him for twenty-four hours, but after that, he was a free man. After so many days chasing their tails on this case they were hoping to find something concrete in the next day.

“So, what do you want to do now?” Asked Scully as they left the station.

“I want to call up the armoured truck company and find out more about this attempted robbery.” He said.

“You think it’s related?” She asked him.

“I don’t know, but at this point nothing would surprise me.” He replied.

A quick phone call and a short drive later they were at the home of one Anthony Dean, the guard who had witnessed the attempted robbery.

“Mr Dean we’re sorry to bother you at home, we just had some follow-up questions about the robbery attempt from yesterday.” Said Scully as they showed him their badges.

“The FBI investigates attempted robberies?” Asked Anthony as he opened the door to let them in.

“Only the weird ones.” Replied Mulder as he stepped inside.

Mr Dean directed them to his living room and they sat down on a well-worn sofa. Mulder couldn’t help laugh at the fact that based on his home, transporting money didn’t pay well. Anthony sat down in a recliner opposite them. “So what do you want to know?” He asked.

“If you don’t mind we’d just like you to tell us again what happened yesterday.” Asked Scully.

“Well, there’s not much to tell really. Greg and I were just doing our route, same as usual when I heard a noise coming from the back. I thought it might have been the rear diff, you don’t want that to go when you’re hauling that much cash, do you have any idea how heavy money is when you put a lot of it together like that?”

They shook their heads. “No.” Said Scully.

“Uh, well anyway, where was I? Oh yeah, so I told Greg to call it in and I pulled over to investigate.” He continued.

“Did you have to unlock the truck?” Asked Mulder.

“Huh?” Said Anthony confused.

“When you went to the back to check, was the door locked or open?”

“Uh, locked I think. Yeah, I’m pretty sure it was locked. Anyway I couldn’t see anything wrong with the truck so I unlocked the back and opened up the cage. I found a man in a ski mask lying on the floor amongst all the money, so I drew my gun and told him to stand up and put his hands up where I could see them. He looked like he was going to do what I asked and then all of a sudden he reaches to his side like he’s going to pull a gun on me, you know. I did what I was trained to do, I shot him, four times.” Anthony shook his head in disbelief.

“And then what happened?” Mulder pressed.

“Well, I ran around to the front of the truck to get Greg, I was gone for only a second I swear it! But when I got back he was gone. It was the strangest thing I ever saw. Greg said I must have seen a ghost because there was nothing missing and no trace of the guy. It was weird though, there wasn’t even a drop of blood anywhere, even though I shot him four times at close range.”

“Mr Dean, did this, ghost, have any distinguishing features? Did you see his hair colour? Eye colour?” Asked Scully.

“Well, like I said he was wearing a ski mask, but he did have tattoos all over his hands, it’s all in the police report if you want to check.”

“We believe you Mr Dean, thank you for your time. We’ll let you know if we have any more questions for you.” Said Mulder standing up.

As they left the house and got into the car Mulder turned to Scully. “So what do you think?”

“A mysterious disappearing thief, sounds like a magic trick to me.” She replied.

He nodded. “We’ll need to check Maleeni’s alibi for the day of the robbery, should we head back to the bank?”

She sighed, it was too late in the day now, the bank would be closing soon, and perhaps it would be better to attack this in the morning with fresh eyes. “Honestly? I want to eat, take a bubble bath and sleep for a year.” She replied.

He chuckled. “All at the same time? Because you know that can be dangerous.” She rolled her eyes at him, she was too hungry to deal with his strange sense of humour right now. “Alright Scully, did you want something healthy? I think I saw a diner nearby.”

She was staring listlessly out the window of the car when she saw the golden arches of McDonalds. “You know, I think I want a burger.” She said turning back to him. He smiled and made his way toward the drive through.

Twenty minutes later she was fed, and happily enjoying the heavy feeling that came with that much greasy food. Mulder pulled up at the hotel and they got out. “Okay, you take your bath, I’m going to walk down to the blockbuster on the corner and rent us a movie to watch when you’re done, sound good?”

She beamed at him. “Sounds perfect.”

He leaned on the car and watched her walk into the room before turning down the street towards the video place. It was two blocks down on the corner so it didn’t take him long. When he got there however, he faced a whole new set of problems, what to rent. He strolled through the new release section first, thinking she probably wouldn’t have had time to watch any of these yet. But there were so many choices. Does he rent a comedy? Or a drama? Action movie? He let out a small giggle when he saw the sci-fi section, he was almost certain Scully didn’t want to watch ‘What planet are you from?’

Eventually he left the new releases section and headed over to the movie classics, he was sure whatever he picked from here she probably would have seen before, but hey, you can’t go wrong with the classics can you?

His eyes glossed over Casablanca and One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest before finding something that stood out. He picked up his selection and headed over to pay. He spent the walk home agonising over his choice, hoping that he picked a good one.

When he got back to the hotel he walked into his room and set up the DVD player in the room. He couldn’t hear anything from Scully’s room so he figured he should go and check on her, make sure she hadn’t fallen asleep in the tub. He walked through the adjoining door and knocked on the bathroom door. “Hey, Scully, you alright in there.”

“Mmm yeah, I’ll be right out.” She called back to him.

He headed back to the room to wait for her, collapsing himself on the bed, and moments later she walked through the doorway. Her skin was pink from the warm water and it gave her a luminescent glow, she wore a white bathrobe and a towel wrapped her head. Mulder caught himself staring, he couldn’t help make the comparison to the Scully in front of him now, and the Scully from in his dreams.

She smiled and climbed into the bed next to him, folding her body around his. “So what are we watching?”

He picked up the remote and flicked on the TV, the title screen blinked into life and he snuck a glance to see if he had made the right choice.

“A Street Car Named Desire, I love this movie.” She said happily.

He let himself relax and pressed play on the remote, she snuggled in closer as the pre-credits rolled across the screen. “I’ve never seen it.” He said casually.

She looked up surprised, Mulder didn’t always have the best taste in movies, but surely he’d seen the classics, she thought.

They watched in silence, every so often she glanced up at him to see how he reacted to a scene or a line. He was content to have her lying in his arms as he absentmindedly ran his fingers up and down her back.

“What did you think?” She asked when the movie was over.

“I thought.” He started, trying to choose his words carefully. “I thought it was profoundly sad. Why do you like it?”

She sighed and turned to face him. “I don’t know, probably because it was made during a time of glitz, glamor and romance. This movie forces the harsh truth that life is sad, and bad things do happen.”

“Well yeah, but not always. Sure not everyone gets the happily ever after, but not everyone goes through what those characters went through. I mean, all of them displayed a specific personality archetypes that are more complex than that in real life.” He argued.

“How do you mean?”

“Well, Stanley is an ogre all he does is drink and fight, and Stella? I can’t tell if she sticks around because she’s scared or if she likes it.”

Scully sat up to look at him. “What about Blanche? She was victimised for showing her sexuality, for giving in to the desires of man. She did nothing that Stanley and his friends wouldn’t do but she was punished for it.”

He shook his head. “She spent the majority of the movie in LaLa land. I’m not saying she didn’t get punished for her hubris, but she lied about everything. She was vain, status orientated and lived in a fantasy world. It’s no wonder it eventually became her reality.”

“After Stanley raped her.” She shot, she couldn’t believe him, how could he think so little of the characters, their struggles were very real. He of all people should know that.

“Did he? It’s never actually said implicitly.” He replied. He could see the anger bubbling up inside his partner, the red blush had started to form on her chest and he couldn’t contain himself anymore. He burst out laughing.

“Mulder!” She exclaimed. She wondered why he was laughing, did he find this funny?

“I’m sorry Scully.” He said through his fits of laughter. “You’re just too easy to tease.”

Suddenly she realised what he was doing, he was winding her up. She reached out and shoved him hard. “It’s not funny.” She said and tried to get off the bed to head back to her room.

His arms encircled her waist, holding her tight and pinning her to him. “Come on Scully, it was a joke.”

He reached out and started to tickle her with one hand as she tried to pull away. It was no use, his grip on her was too strong and the giggling had started. She flopped down on the mattress, pulling him along with her. He let go and leaned into her, their faces inches apart. “You’re an asshole.” She said before pulling him in for a deep kiss.

 

****

The morning had them both up at sunrise, eager to get back to the case. They only had the next few hours before Maleeni’s release and they wanted to use them wisely. They were having breakfast at a small café near the hotel when they got the panicked call from the bank manager at the Cradock Marine Bank.

“He did it!” Shouted the bank manager so loudly that Mulder had to pull the phone away from his ear.

“Who is this?” he asked.

“Harry Phillips, from the bank.” He replied.

“Okay Mr Phillips, now, what’s happened?”

“He did it! Albert, or Herman, or whatever the hell his name is!” came the reply.

Scully, who was sitting opposite Mulder at the café raised an eyebrow quizzically. She could hear someone shouting on the phone, although she couldn’t make out the words.

Mulder was shaking his head. “Did what Mr Phillips?”

“He stole the money!”

“Hold oh sir.” He said and gestured at Scully to join him in the booth so she could hear the conversation. When she had slid in next to him and put her ear up to the phone he continued. “Okay, now slow down and tell me what happened.”

“Well, I opened the bank as usual this morning, and Anthony and Greg from the armoured transport company came to collect the usual shipment. But when I opened the safe it was gone, all of it. He took everything, even the pennies.”

“Sir, Mr Pinchbeck has been in custody since we left you yesterday.” Said Scully.

“Well, someone did it.” He retorted.

“Alright, call the local PD and we’ll be right there.” Said Mulder and hung up the phone.

They quickly paid for their meals and headed to the car. By the time they got there local PD was already working on the scene. It was a hive of activity most of the employees were in the conference room waiting to give their statements and have their fingerprints taken to cross off. Those that had been processed had been sent home. The bank naturally, was closed for the day.

They had been escorted to the vault and were surveying the officers as they checked it for prints. “You don’t think Maleeni could have done this do you?” Scully said quietly to Mulder.

“I don’t see how.” He replied. “Assuming he’s still in lock up that is.”

They shared a knowing look and Scully stepped back to quietly call the watch-house.

“Hello LAPD.”

“Hello, yes. I’m Agent Scully from the Federal Bureau, my partner and I brought a suspect in yesterday and I wanted to make sure he hadn’t been released.”

“Name?” Came the bored response.

“Herman Pinchbeck.” She replied.

“Hold please.”

She waited, nervously pacing for a few minutes until finally she heard a different voice come over the line. “Agent Scully?”

“Yes.”

“Yeah Mr Pinchbecks still here, I just went and checked on him, he’s sleeping soundly right now.”

She sighed. “And he’s been there all night?”

“Of course, you know he’s in a locked cell right? It’s not like he can come and go.”

She rolled her eyes. “Of course not. Sorry.”

“Did you want me to keep him detained until the twenty-four hours is up?”

“Yes.” She replied.

“Okay, so he won’t be let out until lunch time.”

“Okay.”

“Well, if that’s all you wanted……” the guard trailed off.

“Alright.” She said. “Alright thank you.” She hung up before she could hear his response and walked back to Mulder.

“Maleeni?” He asked.

“He’s still in the city lockup where he’s been since we arrested him last night.” She said resignedly. “It certainly doesn’t look like he did this.” she turned to watch the officer’s work. “Lots of fingerprints.” She said hopefully.

“Yeah. I guarantee you none of them match our thieves. They're too clever to leave clues. Except for the ones they want us to find.” He replied. He knew Maleeni had something to do with this, although he would have a hard time proving it. He couldn’t figure out what the man’s endgame was, robbing the bank that he worked at was too sloppy, too easy for someone like him. Especially considering the clues that they had been given so far. No, there was more to this, he just had to figure out what.

The bank manager had come up behind them as he had been thinking. “Excuse me. May I show you something?” He asked motioning for them to follow him.

“Yeah.” Replied Scully and they followed him into a large room with monitors. The armoured truck officers were sitting in front of them staring at the footage.

“We thought the security camera footage might show the robbers.” Said the manager.

“Does it?” She asked.

“No, they all mysteriously went blank from about three am to three twenty. But that’s not what we wanted you to see.”

“This is from two days ago.” Said Anthony.

He brought up the footage from the entrance to the bank and they watched as a familiar face walked through the doors.

“Cissy Alvarez, convicted bank robber.” She identified. Could it be that simple? She wondered. Surely a man who has been convicted of bank robbery wouldn’t be so sloppy in an attempt again, and what did this have to do with Maleeni? Was it unrelated?

“You recognise this man?” Asked Anthony.

“Yeah, who is he to you?” Asked Mulder.

“I know those tattoos.” Said the armoured truck operator as he zoomed in on Cissy’s hands. “That’s the man who tried to rob my truck.”

Mulder strode out of the room and pulled aside an officer. “Call in your station, get them to put out an APB on a Cissy Alvarez, he’ll be at the North Hollywood Billiards Hall.”

“Yes, sir.” Said the officer pulling out his radio.

Scully walked up behind him. “Don’t you think this is strange Mulder?” She asked him. “It’s all just a little too perfect, a convicted bank robber with easily identifiable tattoos, leaves his hands uncovered during a failed attempt to rob an armoured truck,” they started walking out to the car. “And then, just two days later manages to pull off a sizeable heist in the middle of the night.”

He looked at her with a knowing smile. “You don’t think Alvarez is our man?”

“I don’t know what to think Mulder, none of this makes a lick of sense. But in a case where nothing makes sense, it sure is easy to get from A to B all of a sudden.”

“I know, exciting isn’t it?” he replied as they reached the car.

She exhaled frustrated and followed him into the car. It was a short drive to Alvarez’s favourite hangout and she used the time to ponder over the many twists and turns this case had taken.

They arrived just at the police stormed the hall and watched as officers arrested Alvarez and his associates. Mulder got a rise of pleasure as he watched Cissy’s face get slammed into the pool table as the arresting officer cuffed him.

“What the hell man! What did I do?” Alvarez shouted before seeing Mulder and Scully as they walked through the building. “Yo, FBI what’s up with this man? Yo man you can’t just come busting in here, okay? I got civil rights! I’m gonna call my lawyer, and then were gonna see what’s what.”

They ignored him, if he truly was their robber they would need to find some evidence to tie him to the crime. Mulder was sure they would, he had a good idea of what was going on here and if his hunch was right, there would be more than enough evidence to condemn Alvarez.

One of the officers walked over to the duo. “There’s nothing back there.” He said as they continued their search.

“This is harassment, man. This is harassment!” Called Cissy.

Mulder continued to ignore him as he ducked down to look under a pool table.

“Yo! What are they looking for?” Alvarez asked the officer who was holding him. “Come on man, yo! Somebody talk to me!”

Alvarez continued shouting in the background as Mulder and Scully searched for the stolen money. Mulder noticed a bulge in one of the ceiling panels he reached over to the table and picked up a pool cue as Scully walked over to see what he had found. He took the cue and pushed it into the centre of the panel, it cracked and broke in two, sending down debris and white sacks. The sacks were personalised money bags from the bank and were filled with cash. “Well.” Said Scully turning to look at Alvarez. “Saving up for a rainy day?”

“Oh no, no,no,no, we got framed. This is a frame up!” Called Cissy. “It was the magician!”

Those were the words Mulder was waiting to hear. “The magician, Maleeni?” he asked as Alvarez was being dragged out of the hall.

“No, not the dead one man. That little carbon, LaBonge. LaBonge set me up! Listen to me!”

The agents turned to share a look. “Billy LaBonge.” Said Scully

“And the Amazing Maleeni, that’s a double bill I wouldn’t want to miss.”


	13. Chapter 13

 

April 10, 2000,11:30 AM

They had arrived just in time to catch their magicians before they got released. They flashed their badges at the guard on their way into the cells. “I think releasing these two may be a bit premature” she said to the guard who was walking out their suspects.

Mulder walked up to the guard. “Give a minute will you.” He smiled as the guard gave him a wry look before walking out and closing the door behind him.

“Good morning gentlemen, did you sleep well?’ he asked the two magicians.

“Agent Mulder, Agent Scully.” Said Maleeni nodding to them.

“Bravo, really.” Said Mulder to the men as Scully crossed her arms over her chest.

“What do you mean?” Asked LaBonge.

“Last night the Cradock Marine Bank was robbed of 1.8 Million dollars. This morning that entire amount was found in the position of Mr. Cissy Alvarez.” Replied Scully.

“Wow, I told you he was bad news.” Said Maleeni nodding. “Bravo to you! That was expeditious police work.”

Mulder couldn’t help but smile at the words coming from the older magician’s mouth. “Well, thank you. It was wasn’t it? It’s only that Alvarez was so obviously guilty. A convicted bank robber, caught red handed, witnessed trying to rob an armoured car just two days earlier?”

“He’ll need a good lawyer.” Said Scully.

“Yeah, he’s up a creek.” Agreed Mulder.

“Yeah.” She said.

“Just like you two want him.” He concluded.

“I don’t quite see where you’re headed with this.” Maleeni pointed out.

“I have no evidence, but I have a theory Mr Maleeni, and uh, I’ll tell you how it goes. I think that your twin brother Albert died of a heart attack, at which point you and your young protégé saw a golden opportunity.” Started Mulder.

“My protégé? I hate this guy’s guts.” Exclaimed Maleeni.

“That’s what you wanted us to think.” Corrected Scully.

“You wanted revenge against the man who made your life in prison a living hell. Alvarez, you and he were in the same cellblock eight years ago.” Said Mulder.

“It was a set up from the start. You played poker with him, and you made sure that you lost big.” Explained Scully.

“Which gave LaBonge an in with Alvarez once everybody thought you were dead.” He continued.

“LaBonge planted Alvarez’s marker in Maleeni’s van and made sure we found it, and then you used Alvarez’s greed in order to ensnare him, and then orchestrated the attempted bank robbery in order to implicate him.” She said.

“Yeah.” Agreed Mulder. “That was you in the armoured car disguised as Alvarez.” He said to LaBonge. “Somehow Mr Pinchbeck got a hold of the guards gun and switched the clip. Guard didn’t know it but he was firing blanks.”

“And then last night, the two of you robbed the bank and planted the money at Alvarez’s place.” Finished Scully.

LaBonge reached out and grabbed the unbending mesh that served as a wall to the cells. “Don’t you think we have pretty good alibis?”

“You have great alibi’s” Mulder agreed. “You have the best alibis in the world, which is why I think you two got arrested in the first place.”

“With your expertise at sleight of hand, pickpocketing and escapology, I think you two were both able to get out of here by pilfering a guard's key.” Said Scully.

“Could have escaped, stolen the money, framed Alvarez and been back here in time for breakfast.” Mulder added.

“Scrambled eggs and sausage.” Said Maleeni. “That would be the world’s greatest trick, wouldn’t it?”

“One that would be forever remembered in the annals of magic.” Said Mulder repeating the man’s earlier words back to him.”

The two men stared each other down for a long moment before LaBonge cut through the tension. “What happens to us?”

“To you?” Asked Mulder. “You go free, provided the magic is over.”

“The great ones always know when to leave the stage.” Said Maleeni.

Scully raised her eyebrows, she couldn’t believe how self-important these men thought they were.

The gate buzzed and Mulder reached out and pushed it open. “Billy, let’s get the hell out of here.” Said Maleeni and the agents watched as the smiling conmen made their last escape.

“They are the world’s greatest.” Agreed Mulder after they left.

“We saw through their magic.” Scully argued.

“Nah, there’s more.” He raised his arms and plucked at his sleeves to show her that there was nothing up them, then, while wiggling the fingers on his left hand he reached into his pocket with his other hand and pulled out a long leather pocketbook. “Behold, The Amazing Maleeni’s wallet.”

“You picked his pocket?” Asked Scully impressed.

“No, I pilfered it from the evidence room to prevent them from completing their final act of prestidigitation.” He explained.

“What are you talking about?”

“I began to wonder, why did they need so elaborate a set up? Why so high profile? Why draw the attention of the FBI in the first place?” he said.

“We were the last piece of the puzzle.” She said realisation dawning on her.

“Yes, framing Alvarez was just another misdirection. This trick was about EFT’s electronic fund transfers at the bank. Maleeni, Pinchbeck he didn’t have security clearance for them, so he needed a little federal law enforcement intervention. Specifically my badge number and my thumb print. With those two items they could pull off an EFT and steal enough electronically as to make 1.8 million look like cigar lighting money.”

Scully nodded, thinking back to their second day on the case when LaBonge had picked their badges from their pockets, and then when Mulder had played that stupid card trick with Maleeni.

“But they can’t do it without this.” He said pulling out the plastic wrapped card from the wallet. “Pick a card Scully, any card.”

Wow, she thought, they really were the greatest. They would have gotten away with it too if Mulder hadn’t been on the case. It was only with his singular of books style of thinking that he was able to see what they were truly up to.

He placed his hand on the small of her back. “You want to get out of here?” He asked

She nodded and let him lead her out into the hall. “You know Mulder, there’s still one thing you haven’t explained.”

“What’s that?” He asked.

“How The Amazing Maleeni was able to turn his head completely around”

“I don’t know that.” He said with a smile.

“I do. I’ll show you.” She said coyly. She stopped in the hall and held up a hand. “Observe.” And then she crouched on the ground placing her hands flat on the floor in front of her, her fingers were turned in, pointing towards her. Slowly she twisted her right hand all the way around 360 degrees.

“Gee, very nice.” He said appreciatively. “How’d you do that?”

She stood up massaging the muscles in her wrist. “Well….. Magic.” She said giving him a look as she walked passed him and out the door.

“No, seriously Scully. How’d you do it? You know it’s not the same thing. It’s different with a head. Come on, he look at this!” He said as he mimed pulling a never-ending handkerchief out through his fingers. “I’ll show you.”

She looked back and laughed at him as she waited for him to catch up. “You know, I’ll always keep you guessing Mulder.” She said with a smile. She wasn’t about to tell him that she’d been double jointed in that elbow ever since she broke her arm as a kid, that would ruin the mystery.

“You always do.” He said with a wry smile. “So did you want to fly back tonight or wait until tomorrow?”

“I was hoping to fly out tonight, Charlie’s been alone in that house for almost a week now.”

“Yeah, but he is a grown man Scully, you have to let him live more. He’s fine, he didn’t even call you while we were gone.” He pointed out.

“That’s true, but I know my brother. When he sets his mind to something he’ll do it and damn the consequences.” She argued.

“Like?”

“Like, find a place and move out without telling me.” She said raising an eyebrow.

Mulder was about to argue with her, but he’d come to know a little about the younger Scully in recent weeks and it wouldn’t surprise him. Charlie had all the same tendencies his sister had, with none of the propriety that Scully got weight down in. he was far more likely to follow the do now apologise later mantra. “Fair enough, you drive and I’ll book us flights on the way back to the hotel.”

She nodded and caught the keys as he tossed them to her.

****

They were able to get on the 4.00 PM flight back to Washington so it was just after midnight when they landed Mulder loaded their bags into the trunk of his car and started on the short drive to Scully’s place. “Hey Scully, are you tired yet?” He asked her casually.

“Not yet, damn time zones.”

“So, what are you going to do when you get home?”

“I figured I would see if Charlie’s still up, or read a book until I fell asleep.”

He nodded, it was going to be a sad night not staying with her. But he knew she needed her space. “Well I’m a little peckish, airplane food is as bad as hospital food, did you want to grab a bite with me before you leave?”

She smiled up at him, she wasn’t really looking forward to a night in bed alone, but she knew he wanted to take it slow and they had been living in each other’s pockets for almost a week. “Sure.”

He drove past her place to the little diner up the street and pulled in. the diner was empty bar a bored looking waitress and an old drunk nursing a cup of coffee, but they still chose their favourite booth right up the back away from prying eyes.

“What can I get you?” Asked the waitress in a flat tone that made it clear she would rather be anywhere other than working the graveyard shift.

Mulder looked over to Scully. “A couple of burgers?” He asked looking for Scully’s nod of approval.

“Coming right up.” Replied the waitress sarcastically.

Scully couldn’t help but giggle at the poor girl after she had left, she just sounded so miserable.

“Hey Scully, I’ve been thinking I should learn a couple magic tricks, you know, pull them out at meetings when everyone gets as bored as that girl.”

“I’m not sure that would go down well at the bureau Mulder.” She replied with a laugh.

“Well.” He said absentmindedly.

They spent their meal laughing and joking about magic and the other agents, particularly one Walter Skinner, and how they would react to it in the workplace. They stayed there until long after their meal was done and the sallow waitress had lingered at their table making it clear she wanted them gone. With a sigh they got out of the booth and made their way back to the car.

Two blocks later they were parked outside Scully’s building pulling her bags out of the car. “Well, goodnight.” He said awkwardly to her as he closed the trunk.

“Night Mulder.” She replied and reached out to clasp his hand in hers. With a tight squeeze she let go and grabbed her bags.

He watched her walk up to the building and waited until she was safely inside before getting back into his car.

****

When Scully got upstairs she was surprised to see the lights in the living room on. Charlie was sitting on the couch reading a book. When he saw her he stood up. “Dana, I wasn’t expecting you back today.”

“Yeah, I caught a late flight back and I didn’t want you to wait up for me, I see now I shouldn’t have bothered.”

“Yeah sorry, I only just got in about an hour ago, I was just reading to try and put myself to sleep.” He replied.

“Are you still working on that big case?” She said surprised.

“Tonight’s the last night of it, it goes to court tomorrow afternoon so I just wanted to go over everything one last time.” He explained.

That made sense, she thought and headed over to sit next to him on the couch. “So, how was the case? Where’s Mulder?”

She shot him a look at that second question. “Mulder is at his place, and the case was strange.”

“Do tell, was it aliens?” He asked teasingly.

“No.” She replied rolling her eyes. “You know for everyone’s portrayal of us thinking everything’s about aliens all the time, a surprisingly few cases are actually about them.”

“So what was this one about?”

“Magic.” She said wiggling her fingers at his face.

“Like Harry Potter?” he joked.

“Like Houdini, only this trick had a headless corpse and bank robbery.”

“Hmm, sounds like a Vegas show. Did you catch the bad guys?”

She sighed. “Well, we caught a bad guy, although he was actually innocent in this case. Not that it matters, the amount of evidence against him was astounding. It’s okay though, I’m sure if we didn’t catch him on this it was only a matter of time before the LAPD caught up with him on something. But the real bad guys? They caught a pass.”

“You’re kidding? How does that happen?”

She shrugged. “No evidence, we stopped them at least, but I have no idea what to put in my case report.”

Charlie flapped his hand. “You’ll figure out something, you always do. But enough about the case, how was Mulder?”

Scully went red. “What do you mean?”

He pulled a mock-innocent face. “I just wanted to know if you had a nice time is all.”

“Well, I’ve got a bone to pick with you Charles Michael Scully. You told Mulder about my nightmares didn’t you?” she said frowning.

“I, ah, yeah. I was worried about you.” He said quickly, trying to defend himself.

Rather than get angry Scully pulled her little brother in for a hug. “Thank you.” She said softly.

He hugged her back. “Anytime.” He let go of her and held her in place by her shoulders. “In light of your recent good mood I have some news for you.”

“Oh yeah.” She said warily. “What’s that?”

“I found a place. Maybe, I don’t know yet. But it looks really nice in the pictures and it’s close to work and you, and it’s in my price range. I was hoping we could go and look at it together so you could tell me what you think?” the words tumbled out quickly, like he was afraid to speak them.

She took a deep breath and centred herself before replying. “If you like it I’m sure I will too, Charlie. I’m sorry if I made you feel like you couldn’t leave, that was very weak of me.” She looked down feeling ashamed of herself. Who was she to stop him from living his own life? She needed to find the old Dana, the strong one who didn’t rely on anyone for her own happiness.

“It’s not weak to want people in your life squirt, and you do have people. I’m just talking about getting my own place, if you think for a second that me moving means I won’t be around to watch old movies with you or give you grief when you insist on wearing that heinous denim jacket you keep at the back of your closet you’re wrong. I’m just giving you the breathing room you need to get on with your life. With your guest room back, Ellen can visit more often. And with me out of the place you can have Mulder over, maybe even overnight for once. And you can see mom again, I know you miss her.”

He was right, she did miss her mother. A tiny smile played over her lips at the thought of Mulder staying over. “You’re right, as usual. Except for the part about the jacket, I make that look good. I’m going to call mom in the morning and see if she wants to have coffee. Should I, do you want me to tell her you’re in town?”

“No.” He said softly. “It’s better if she doesn’t know I’m here. Okay, enough of this, I’m going to bed. See you tomorrow Dana.”

He got off the couch and walked toward the hall. “Goodnight.” She said as he walked into his room and closed the door. She sat there in the quiet for some time, mulling over her life and the choices she’d made. Most of the time she felt like she had been pulled along into things that she had no understanding of. But the big choices? She had definitely made those. She had chosen to leave medicine, she had chosen to follow Mulder on his obsession, and she had chosen to go to him that night four months ago. Hadn’t she?


End file.
